UMUAHIA, Nigeria – Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has accused his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, of fraudulently commissioning an uncompleted Government House building just before leaving office, describing it as one of several deceptive legacies his administration has inherited and is working to rectify.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE News on Thursday, May 1, 2025, Governor Otti disclosed that although the new Government House had been ceremoniously commissioned on May 28, 2023, only the ground floor was completed and furnished.
The upper floors, he said, were left unplastered and without basic fittings.
“What happened was that my predecessor commissioned an uncompleted building… He completed the ground floor, finished it very well, put Italian furniture in the place, painted it, and commissioned it,” Otti said.
“But as I went to the first and second floor, they were not even plastered. No sanitary fittings, nothing. So that’s fraud.”
Pressed on whether he intended to investigate the previous administration, the governor dismissed the idea of launching a formal probe, stating he was more focused on governance.
“You have only four years. And when you get into some of these distractive things, you lose focus,” Otti said.
“Probing is a waste of my time.”
Despite this, the governor referenced an earlier inquiry conducted by KPMG into state finances, which uncovered the withdrawal of ₦10 billion for an “unexecuted airport project.”
“We are saying, bring back our money or give us the airport,” he added.
Governor Otti also provided fresh insights into the state’s financial health.
He claimed that while the Debt Management Office (DMO) listed the state’s 2023 debt profile at ₦138 billion, an internal audit revealed it to be ₦192 billion when previously excluded obligations such as pensions and salaries were considered.
“DMO didn’t include pension arrears, which we cleared off. They didn’t include salary arrears, which we also paid,” he said.
“They didn’t include all the parastatals that were being owed… Those we have taken care of.”
Despite the debt burden, Otti insisted his administration has not borrowed “a single dime” since assuming office.
“Today I can tell you the state is running very, very well,” he said, adding confidently, “Don’t bother yourself about where I’m going to find the money because that’s my own area.”
On pension liabilities, the governor disclosed that his administration paid out approximately ₦10 billion to clear longstanding pension arrears, some stretching up to 56 months.
“We sat down with the pensioners and… by Easter last year, we paid a total of about ₦10 billion to pensioners to clear all the arrears.”
Turning to healthcare, Otti defended his administration’s decision to convert the controversial multi-specialist hospital in Aba into a general hospital, noting the proximity of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), which had previously lost accreditation.
According to him, ABSUTH was rehabilitated and re-accredited in 2023 after losing its certification in 2021.
“The specialist hospital was not abandoned… You don’t need to set up another specialist hospital in Aba,” he said.
“The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria came back in 2022 and reaffirmed the loss of accreditation… In December 2023, the accreditation was restored.”
Otti concluded the interview by restating his commitment to the people of Abia, asserting that no individual or group holds more significance to him than the citizens of the state.
“Nobody is more important to me than Abia people and God,” he said.
