Abia Govt Drags Ikpeazu To EFCC Over N10bn Airport Money

Despite the spirited defence of the aides of former Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, over allegation of misappropriation of N10 billion airport project money, Abia State Government has published the 360-page forensic audit report indicting the immediate past administration, as promised by Governor Alex Otti last week.

The government has consequently dragged the former Governor to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking recovery of the money, according to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma.

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Governor Alex Otti had last week vowed to publish the KPMG audit report and recover the money insisting it was either N10 billion or the airport.

Mr Ekeoma, correspondingly disclosed that the anti graft agency has started inviting the major players in the immediate past administration over the matter and advised the former Commissioner for Information and Trade and Investment, Chief John Okiyi Kalu and others defending the Ikpeazu administration to go and tell their stories to agency.

According to Ekeoma, who described as despicable the manner in which the Ikpeazu administration obtained the N10 billion airport project loan before seeking the approval of the State House of Assembly, added, “They have the opportunity to put up the necessary defence, let them go to the EFCC, with all the documents. In any case, EFCC has already started inviting most of the actors involved.”

Ekeoma noted that his principal did not mention names when he spoke at John Hopkins University in the United States, “he didn’t even say anybody has been found guilty.

“You discover that about 48 hours after the Governor made that statement, the spokesman of the former Governor shouted and boasted and said they were going to upload documents to show how we have been lying.

“Till today, they have not published any documents. They handed them over to, I wouldn’t want to call them Social Media e-rats, because they even know that most of the documents they are circulating are indicting: some of them are either forged or fake, and all the rest of them.”

The Media Adviser further disclosed,
“For example, some of the documents they were parading showed where the Governor issued an Exco resolution, directing the Hon. Commissioner for Works to move the funds set aside for the Abia airport; to rechannel these funds for reconstruction of roads.

“In the first place, the Governor does not issue Exco resolution. And look at that document, it has no reference. They know what they are doing; one document has multiple originals.”

Faulting the timing of moving the money, Ekeoma said, “We are talking about N10 billion that was transferred in a COVID-19 year in 2020 when there was global meltdown, they just moved it.”

He also faulted the defence put up by the former administration, “Traditional Rulers visited you, you now changed your mind and decided not to go ahead with the airport project but still went ahead to transfer a whopping N10 billion to that construction company.

Meanwhile, you had transferred the money before approaching the House of Assembly for approval.

“Now, when you realised that you didn’t want to do the airport again, you couldn’t ask the construction company to return the money, you now directed the company to start distributing the money into dozens of accounts.

“So, is the construction company a bank? Was the company the Accountant-General of the state?

“They shouldn’t be that shameless to even respond, because what they did was despicable. N10 billion is not N10, 000, for Christ’s sake. So, let’s leave them to EFCC”.