In the wake of the revelation that a staggering N11.5 billion was expended by the Abia State government under Dr. Alex Otti, the Peoples Democratic Party is demanding an explanation.
According to reports published in the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SEFTAS) report on the Abia State website, Governor Alex Otti allocated N11.5 billion to the education sector, of which N8.5 billion was dedicated to capital projects. Notably, N4.57 billion was spent directly on the construction and rehabilitation of public schools between July 2023 and March 2024. However, it remains unclear what the remaining N3.93 billion was used for, as that information was not detailed in the report.
In a statement, Abia PDP Vice Chairman and Acting State Publicity Secretary Hon. Elder Abraham Amah remarked that such a report “should be a source of pride for Abians who understand the vital importance of education as one of the three pillars and indicators of the Human Development Index (HDI), which assesses government achievements in ensuring a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living for their citizens. Unfortunately, that is not the reality in Abia State, where no Abian or outsider can point to or identify any of the numerous projects where such a substantial sum of money was supposedly spent.
Amah continued, “To underscore the deception, Abians have yet to see any new school building constructed by the Alex Otti administration, nor any rehabilitated school building in any of the 17 local government areas of the state. Additionally, the state government has not provided scholarships, whether local or foreign, to Abia indigenes at any educational level. Worse still, there is no evidence that the learning environment in Abia has improved as a result of the substantial funds allocated to the sector. Initiatives such as the training and retraining of teachers, the deployment of teaching aids, or a revised curriculum aimed at enhancing the learning environment in our schools have yet to materialize.
Amah further asserted, “The Abia PDP is not surprised by this blatant display of insincerity and kleptocracy from the Alex Otti government, as it has become typical for them to make extravagant claims that are not only unverifiable but also insulting to the collective intelligence of Abians. The education sector is not alone in this malfeasance; other sectors such as agriculture, science and technology, information, health, and social welfare have also reported large sums of money claimed without any visible outcomes.
“Recently, two commissioners in the Alex Otti cabinet—the commissioners for agriculture and science and technology—resigned their appointments due to irreconcilable differences regarding the significant amounts of money, N4.7 billion and N2.6 billion, reportedly spent by the government under their ministries without their knowledge, for which the governor could not provide any explanations.
“It is deeply concerning for Abians that such deceit, found in other sectors, has now infiltrated the education sector, which has historically been the pride and glory of the state. This situation must not go unchallenged, as any attempt to undermine the integrity of Abia’s education system, as the present government appears intent on doing, threatens to strip away what remains of our dignity, conscience, and soul as a people.
“The Abia PDP challenges Alex Otti to provide a comprehensive list of schools that have been constructed, rehabilitated, or are currently under construction; a detailed account of the teaching aids and materials that the funds were allocated for; and a program designed to upskill and retrain the teaching staff to enhance the learning environment for Abians. If he cannot do so, he should return the funds already taken from Abia’s coffers and use them to restore the deteriorating educational infrastructure, which has tarnished the state’s image since the inception of this administration.
“The Abia PDP calls on Abians of good conscience to urge Governor Alex Otti to revitalize the state’s education system, which is rapidly declining under his watch.”
