Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has raised serious allegations against his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, accusing him of commissioning an incomplete Government House as part of a broader pattern of fraudulent practices by the past administration.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News, Governor Otti disclosed that the building, which was ceremonially unveiled shortly before the end of Ikpeazu’s tenure, was far from completed. According to him, only the ground floor of the new Government House was completed and furnished, while the upper floors were left unplastered and without basic amenities such as sanitary fittings.
Otti described the action as a deliberate attempt to mislead the public, adding that the reality on the ground sharply contradicted the image presented during the building’s commissioning. He said this revelation is one among many issues his administration has uncovered and is working to correct since taking office.
The governor emphasized that despite the scale of mismanagement discovered, he is not focused on launching formal probes into the past administration. Instead, he is prioritizing efforts to restore integrity, accountability, and functionality in governance. However, he cited a specific instance where his administration engaged KPMG to audit certain accounts, uncovering a suspicious withdrawal of ₦10 billion purportedly for a non-existent airport project. On that matter, he maintained that restitution or delivery of the promised airport must be pursued.
Governor Otti also addressed the financial burden inherited by his administration. While the Debt Management Office reported a debt profile of ₦138 billion, the actual figure, according to Otti, was ₦192 billion, factoring in arrears of salaries, pensions, and debts owed to state parastatals. Despite this, he affirmed that his government has not borrowed any funds and has successfully reduced the debt significantly.
He said: “What happened was that my predecessor commissioned an uncompleted building on the 28th of May. And it is supposed to be new government house. So what did he do? He completed the ground floor, finished it very well, put Italian furniture in the place, painted it, and commissioned it.
“So after the inauguration, I went there. When I looked at the ground floor, I was very happy. But as I went to the first and second floor, they were not even plastered. No sanitary fittings, nothing. So that’s fraud.”
When asked if he was going to probe his predecessor, Otti said, “You have only four years. And when you get into some of these distractive things, you lose focus. I have too much work to do. Of course, we tried to, we called in KPMG at some point. And I’m sure you must have seen that, where they looked at one of the accounts. And they found that some 10 billion Naira was drawn for a non-existent airport. So that’s the only one that we are saying, bring back our money or give us the airport.”
