The Abia State Government has denied accusations that the state governor, Alex Otti, spent more than N900 million on food and welfare between July and September 2023. On Monday, November 20, online sources claimed that Otti spent N927 million in three months on refreshments/meals, honorarium, allowances, and welfare packages.
The state Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Kingsley Anosike, condemned the reports as “a reflection of the opposition’s mindset to create mischief.” He clarified that the cost “was not incurred by the Governor’s office, as alleged, but by the entire ministries, departments, and agencies” in the State.
“Following the publication of the Q3 budget report of the Abia State Government, and in line with the government’s commitment to transparency, good governance, and fiscal discipline, it has become necessary to shed more light on the aforementioned report.
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“This is even more so when there are certain distorted reports on social media alleging that the Abia State Government had spent close to N1 billion on feeding and welfare for the Governor’s Office, within the period under review.
“The accurate situation is that nothing in that region has been spent in the Governor’s Office. This figure is for the entire state and not for the Office of the Governor, as being erroneously portrayed. The stated figure covers expenses for special events, such as retreats, conferences, and related events.
“For welfare, the Abia State Government has so far spent the sum of N397,520,734.84. The Welfare expenditure is in line with the State Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability Programme; an initiative of the Federal Government. Also note that the welfare expenditure covers all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies and not just the Governor’s Office, as wrongly alleged. Expenses under welfare deal with issues of health, rehabilitation, and public emergencies.
“The figure is an aggregation of all the spending under this headline across the 76 MDAs in the state. The way it was presented was not well captured and completely misrepresented,” the statement read.