The Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti, has again revealed that the sum of N10 billion, allegedly, removed from the State’s Treasury under the guise of paying for the construction of Abia airport was subsequently moved to 32 suspicious accounts .
This is even as he has assured of making public the details of the report of the forensic audit that unearthed the financial fleecing of the state by the immediate past administration .
Governor Otti, who spoke late Thursday May 9 2024 during his monthly interactive session with the Media in Umuahia, the State capital, also disputed claims by the leadership of Abia pensioners that they were short-changed in the course of the payments of their pension arrears, insisting that the Government fully implemented the terms of agreement entered in to with the pensioners Union .
The Governor, who said he is not interested in seeing anybody go to jail on account of the alleged N10 billion misappropriated Airport funds and others, promised that in less than no time , Ferotex Construction Company will respond to Security agencies and avail them the letters and documents directing it on how and where to move the funds after it had declined involvement in the purported airport construction.
“The Managing Director of the firm ( Ferotex) said he told the ( Immediate past administration) that he has never built an airport before and it is not his area of competence, neither did he apply to build an airport.
“Ferotex will soon respond to show letters directing it to move the funds to 32 different companies .
“We are not interested in anybody going to jail except if they are telling us that if somebody’s money is missing ,he/she should not look for it .
“Where I come from, if your property is missing, you have to look for it ” the Governor stated.
He revealed that Ferotex in whose account the N10 billion was sent, in the course of its engagement with the auditors (KPMG) confessed that it was deceived, adding that the past administration never denied the movement of the funds.
“Their claim was that the funds were diverted for road construction ,which they must prove when the time comes.”
Further clarifying Government’s position on the controversy surrounding the recent payments of pension arrears in the state, Governor Otti said “They (pensioners) told us that they are interested in the payment of their full pension from January 2024 . They also said that they were ready to forgo all the arrears once there is a commitment to be paying them their full monthly pensions promptly and regularly..
“So we went back and thought about it and came to the conclusion that what they (pensioners) were proposing was not a fair deal.
“We said despite the difficulties the pensioners were facing ,that we were not going to write off the entire arrears.
“So we looked at our books and put down #10 billion to defray the total arrears . Based on that ,we went back and entered into an agreement which every party signed .
“I am aware that after we paid the money ,the leadership of National Union of Pensioners came to say no, they had made a mistake. That they did not say gratuities should be written off. But of course ,you have signed a document and on the basis of that document ,action has been taken .
“I think it is a huge joke to come and claim that you did not sign any document and or that a portion of the document should be expunged after you have signed . Gratuity is a one time thing . You were not getting anything before. We have shown good faith”
