By Steve Nwabuko
The Whistler Newspaper of 20th April 2026 has reported that Governor Alex Otti has paid #141 Billion debts out of #191 Billion debts owed to several Banks since 1999 to 2026 and leaving an outstanding of #50 Billion naira to clean up Abia state indebtedness.
In a sane society, one would ask whether debt repayment is a curse of general misgovernment from 1999 to 2023 or a causative force in restarting responsible governance through sorting out debt obligations entered into by previous inefficient and ineffective PDP maladministration of Abia State over twenty four years of stupendous wastes, disastrous financial malfeasance, stealing of public funds and without a single regenerative legacy project standing for the debts borrowed.
In past three years, Governor Alex Otti has spent #141 billion current revenues to offset backlog of loans either stolen or misappropriated by the respective governments of: Orji Uzo Kalu (1999 to 2007), Theodore Orji (2007 to 2015) and Okezie Ikpeazu (2015 to 2023) without any regenerative project in Abia state to show for the loans dubiously arranged, acquired and misappropriated.
Within this same period, former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state governed for eight years (2007 to 2015) and left cash savings in excess of #75 billion naira, paid, off all contractors, paid off all pension and gratuities, repositioned Anambra state in health, security and educational facilities and borrowed not a dime but invited EFCC to come forward and probe his government and no "shishi" has been declared missing under Governor Peter Obi's watch.
Recall that former Governor Orji Uzo kalu was jailed by a court of competent jurisdiction over allegations of some #7.5 billion naira traceable to him and the case is yet to be fully discharged and acquired till date.
It is also in public space that former Governor Theodore Orji still has case to answer with EFCC over alleged #50 billion naira misappropriation of public funds under his opaque spending and administrative laxatives.
Governor Alex Otti on his own volition set up an audit inquiry into Abia state finances between 2015 to 2023 and hired a renowned accounting firm in KPMG for that assignment.
The preliminary report of KMPG in that audit investigation report revealed several financial infractions in public funds mismanagement and specifically pointed out a whooping #10 billion naira misappropriation for a phantom Abia airport project for which funds were fully paid for but airport project not delivered.
Another high profile financial impropriety exposed by the KPMG audit report is several billions of naira said to have been spent by Okezie Ikpeazu in building a purported Abia State Government house at umuahia and which project is said to be a fraud, incomplete and unlivable and resulted in Governor Alex Otti operating from his personal residence in Isiala Ngwa North LGA.
Abia state people are waiting for EFCC to take on these financial misappropriations on the ground of KPMG report which has been submitted to it.
It is quite disgusting and disturbing that after accumulating humongous debts of up to #191 billion naira between 1999 to 2023 under the PDP maladministration, the three former Governors of Abia state would all decamp to the APC to confess their sins and be forgiven by the party while Governor Alex Otti will be using current revenues to pay off old misappropriated debts and EFCC will feel unconcerned.
This is grossly unaccepted and a huge joke on the fight against corruption.
These same shameless PDP Governors of Orji Uzo kalu, Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu have formed themselves into a cartel to denigrate the high performing works delivery of Governor Alex Otti by saying that Governor Alex Otti is merely doing repainting works on projects they never did in their twenty four inglorious years in office.
Governor Alex Otti has effectively recovered Aba and Umuahia from decrepit status that the former PDP Governors submerged them into.
The #141 billion naira which Governor Alex Otti has spent repaying old debts and which properly stated are stolen funds, ought to have been used to elevate health care, Education, sports, agriculture, rural electrification and road infrastructures in Abia state for a better tomorrow.
What the former PDP inglorious Governors are angling for is to sponsor one of their thieving protegè to run for the Governorship position in 2027 under the APC to continue the mismanagement of Abia state and preclude official trial of their wicked and dastardly past archives in Governorship misadventures.
As we congratulate Governor Alex Otti for quickly lifting the debt burden off the record books of Abia state, we wish to demand unequivocally that he instruct his Attorney General to get EFCC commence investigation and trial of stolen Abia State funds by former PDP Governors of Abia state.
The #141 billion naira debts paid off by Governor Alex Otti if applied into Abia state would have reduced poverty rate, created employment opportunities for Abians, constructed new housing projects for Abians, built new Primary and secondary schools, pulled more than one million Abians out of poverty, removed Abia state from the list of out of school children and repositioned Abia state as an industrial hub in Nigeria.
IGBO fought a civil war between 1967 to 1970 and the Federal Government policy of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction were ignored and unimplemented because of internal subterfuges at the national level that sees IGBO as paraiah in the national project.
For IGBO sons to serve as state Governors and steal public funds meant to return IGBO to strong footing is unacceptable and must be fought against.
Nigeria cannot change Alaigbo since it has been deliberately schemed out of national power equations by other contending ethnic forces but what IGBO earns and manages properly is what can restore Ndigbo to prominence in Nigeria again.
We congratulate Governor Alex Otti's due diligence in financial propriety, infrastructures upgrades, social welfare schemes and cancellation of gratuities to former Governors of Abia state that ran Abia state aground because of greed, opportunism and graft.
While Governor Alex Otti prepares for a second term bid in office, he must put the former PDP Governors of Abia state on regular EFCC trail to show Abians what they are up against in their voting patterns in 2027 which is: Looters versus Menders.
God bless Abia state.
God's own State.
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