Former Commissioner for Finance and Funds Planning in Abia State, Hon Obinna Oriaku, has added his voice to requires transparency and accountability in dealing with the month-to-month Federal allocations and different accruals to the state.
In an announcement issued on Monday, Hon. Oriaku, who served as Finance Commissioner below Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Social gathering (PDP), referred to as on Governor Alex Otti to be clear with Abians by disclosing how varied allocations from the Federation Account and the Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) of the state have been utilized.
The decision comes barely one month after the Deputy Speaker of the Home of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, urged prudent administration of federal sources to the state, emphasizing correct utilization of income allocations and different generated funds to deal with essential infrastructure in Abia State.
Kalu, whereas addressing the Renewed Hope Companions in Abia final month, additionally indicated that the state acquired N38 billion in extra of federal allocations and different accruals month-to-month in the course of the second quarter of 2025.
Governor Otti, nevertheless, dismissed the declare, insisting that month-to-month revenues for the state stand at N15 billion.
In an article titled Abia’s Q3 2025 Monetary Report: Unanswered Questions, Conflicting Figures and Rising Transparency Issues, the previous Finance Commissioner Oriaku challenged Governor Otti’s claims, describing them as “suspicious” and “complicated.”
He said that the not too long ago revealed Abia Q3 2025 Monetary Report, reviewed by Progressives Abia Youth, has stirred a contemporary wave of concern throughout the state. Though the sectoral breakdown seems detailed at first look, a deeper look reveals figures that sharply contradict what is observable on the bottom and what the federal government beforehand claimed.
“The report signifies that Abia acquired a complete income of 91 billion naira in Q3, a noticeable drop from the 114 billion recorded in Q2. This discount confirms that the state loved substantial non-FAAC inflows in Q2, which pushed the sooner determine upward. But Q3 was a interval marked by among the highest FAAC disbursements nationwide, together with 1.9 trillion naira in July, 2.3 trillion naira in August, and a couple of.1 trillion naira in September. Throughout this similar interval, Abia’s internally generated income reportedly elevated from 13.3 billion to 18 billion naira,” Oriaku stated.
He expressed disappointment that, “regardless of these realities, the state authorities continues to deny that Abia acquired a median of 38 billion naira month-to-month between April and June. For readability, Abia acquired 84 billion naira in Q1, which interprets to about 28 billion month-to-month. In Q2, the determine rose considerably to 114 billion naira, about 38 billion month-to-month. In Q3, the whole income of 91 billion naira interprets to 30.3 billion month-to-month.
“These inconsistencies have triggered public doubt, particularly as a result of the identical authorities has been busy discrediting a monetary report ready and signed by its personal licensed officers. Many Abians are actually asking why states equivalent to Enugu and Imo have seen landmark tasks funded from these similar revenues, whereas Abia residents are anticipated to have fun patchwork highway repairs. Officers insist on being judged utilizing the usual of previous administrations, despite the fact that present financial realities are much more beneficial.
“It’s due to this fact respectable to ask what the Abia State Authorities does with over N30 billion it receives month-to-month from FAAC alone, excluding the 17 native governments’ allocations that common about N11 billion month-to-month. When each figures are mixed, Abia’s complete month-to-month influx rises to nicely over 40 billion naira, making the dearth of transparency within the state’s monetary reporting much more troubling.
“Suspicious patterns within the expenditure report additional heighten public concern. A recurring tactic noticed below the current administration is the continual shifting and renaming of expenditure sub-heads in ways in which seem designed to obscure questionable spending. The beforehand controversial Safety Vote, which recorded almost 1 billion naira, and the a lot-criticized 300 million naira Authorities Home feeding invoice, which triggered public backlash and was highlighted by Reuben Abati on Come up TV, have all of the sudden vanished from the report.
“These similar classifications have now reappeared below the obscure title ‘Analysis and Improvement,’ an expenditure line that has consumed greater than 34 billion naira since 2023 with none clear or measurable output.”
On the newly launched sectoral evaluation for the third quarter of the 12 months, the previous Finance Commissioner faulted the N14.4 billion claimed to have been spent on Land and Housing, urging the Governor to present additional clarifications.
“This allocation raises critical considerations. Was it used for land compensation? In that case, who had been the beneficiaries between July and September? Abia at the moment has no seen housing undertaking to justify this spending. The state additionally can’t account for the 6.7 billion naira leisure facility reportedly funded since Q3 2023.
“Moreover, the declare that 82 billion naira has been spent on repairing public faculties from January 2024 to September 2025 doesn’t align with what is bodily observable throughout the state,” he posited.
Hon. Oriaku additionally queried the N9.1 billion allotted to the Transport sector, probing additional whether or not the fund was associated to the electrical bus undertaking that “mysteriously elevated from 20 buses to 100 with none public justification,” including that “Abians deserve to know what number of buses had been bought and at what precise value.”
