…Counters Deputy Speaker over inflated allocation claims
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
The cold war between Governor Alex Otti and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives took a new turn on Monday as the Governor chided the Deputy Speaker over his alleged false claims about funds accruing to Abia State from the Federation Account.
Kalu, while addressing his supporters on Sunday at Abia Hotels, Umuahia, during an Independence anniversary get-together, claimed that Abia receives between ₦38 billion and ₦40 billion as monthly allocation from Abuja.
The Deputy Speaker, who acknowledged some of the Governor’s achievements, however, claimed that “what is on ground is not commensurate with the funds coming into the state.”
He further argued that President Ahmed Tinubu should be praised for releasing more funds to states, which, according to him, has enabled some governors to perform better.
Kalu also said that Otti should not be comparing his achievements with those of his predecessors, whom he claimed received lesser funds.
Refuting the Deputy Speaker’s claims, Otti explained that Abia’s total monthly allocation from FAAC, including funds for Local Governments, stands at ₦15.625 billion.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, Otti accused Kalu of “advertising his financial illiteracy and playing to the gallery.”
The Governor accused the Deputy Speaker of distorting facts and peddling falsehood to score cheap political points.
In the statement titled “Governance in Abia: Benjamin Kalu Needs Tutorial More Than He Needs a Microphone,” Otti expressed shock that a federal lawmaker of Kalu’s standing could choose to drop misleading figures to discredit the state government.
The statement read: “The attention of the Abia State Government has been drawn to a trending video containing a statement made by the House of Representatives member for Bende Federal Constituency and Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, wherein he made some spurious allegations over the performance of the Alex Otti government and further made infantile comparisons between the Governor and his two immediate predecessors.
“Abia’s 2025 year-to-date FAAC allocation (8 months), including LGA funds, stands at ₦125 billion. Meanwhile, if we were to go by Kalu’s false claim of a monthly sum of ₦38 billion, it would have stood at ₦304 billion. Should a Deputy Speaker of a Federal Legislature be associated with such barefaced lies?”
Otti explained that despite the spike in the exchange rate from ₦460 when he assumed office in 2023 to ₦1,500 currently, his administration has given a good account of funds accruing to the state.
“As of April 2023, a few days before Governor Alex Otti assumed office, the exchange rate stood at ₦460 to the dollar. At the present rate of ₦1,500 to the dollar, ₦3.2 billion today is the equivalent of ₦1 billion in 2023. Given that Nigeria is import-dependent, the devaluation has seen states gain in nominal terms but very little in real terms, because key projects are executed with items and equipment whose components are acquired in foreign currency.
“This is why a road project that was built with ₦1 billion in 2022 would cost close to ₦4 billion today. If inflation is factored in at an average rate of 20% per annum, the situation would further worsen.”
He also noted that he had increased the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 in clear demonstration of his administration’s concern for workers.
Otti further explained that the state’s workforce had increased following the recent engagement of 5,000 teachers and the ongoing recruitment of an additional 4,000 and 771 health workers.
“Prior to Governor Otti’s emergence, the number of Abia civil servants stood at 31,000, according to then-Governor Okezie Ikpeazu (see The Cable, Tribune Online, March 30, 2023).
“Today, the total number of verified Abia workers stands at over 67,000, excluding the 5,349 newly recruited teachers. What this implies is that tens of thousands of Abia workers who have now been brought into the state payroll were hitherto oppressed, isolated, and abandoned under the guise that they were non-core civil servants.
“Ironically, Kalu didn’t utter a word when this injustice was meted out to Abians, including his constituents, because he wasn’t sure of the ambition he presently nurses, which of course is the real motive behind his petty posturing lately.”
Governor Otti wondered why Kalu did not include former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu on the list of ex-governors who received less funding, accusing him of treachery
