Abia APC chieftain Prince Paul Ikonne has challenged Governor Alex Otti over ₦54bn school renovation claims.
He insists the government must publish evidence of projects executed to justify the reported expenditure.
The debate over Abia State’s controversial ₦54 billion school renovation expenditure has intensified as Prince Paul Ikonne, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), called on Governor Alex Otti to provide concrete evidence of projects executed rather than dismissing public concerns.
The issue gained traction after Governor Otti, during his monthly media chat over the weekend, rejected claims that ₦54 billion was missing from the state treasury. He described the allegations as unfounded and rooted in a poor understanding of government budgeting and expenditure frameworks.
In a swift response, Ikonne, through a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Ujo Justice, criticized the governor’s stance as contradictory. He questioned how an administration that prides itself on “seasoned accountants” could allegedly provide conflicting figures on such a high-profile matter.
Ikonne recalled that similar sums had previously been earmarked for school rehabilitation in Abia State without visible outcomes, noting that ₦18 billion was once announced for renovations with little to show for it. He accused the government of repeating the same cycle of unexplained spending.
Citing reports from budget performance documents, Ikonne argued that Governor Otti’s dismissal of the ₦54 billion claim as a “mistake” does not align with official state records. According to the documents, Abia State reported spending ₦54.066 billion on school rehabilitation in the last quarter of 2024 alone, while the total expenditure for the fiscal year reached ₦58.323 billion.
Ikonne emphasized that if the governor maintains that only ₦2.1 billion was spent on schools, he owes the people of Abia an explanation for the discrepancies in the official budget data. “Budgets are projections, but expenditures are facts,” he stated. “If ₦54 billion was reported as spent between October and December 2024, the governor must provide a list of the schools that benefited. The people of Abia want evidence, not excuses.”
The APC stalwart also highlighted the provisions in the approved 2024 budget, which allocated ₦64.7 billion for the renovation and modernization of 51 schools. He pointed out that this allocation suggests an average cost of approximately ₦1.26 billion per school for rehabilitation, a figure that many observers consider disproportionately high.
This dispute could evolve into a significant test of transparency for the Otti administration, which came into office promising accountability and prudent management of state resources. The controversy has also fueled calls for independent audits of state budgets and expenditures to verify claims on both sides.
While the governor continues to maintain that the allegations are politically motivated, Ikonne insists that accountability, not politics, is at stake. “This is now a national conversation,” he said, “and the people of Abia deserve to know exactly where their money is going.”
