Abia State Government has cleared the air on the controversy over the third quarter expenditure of the State Government, explaining that contrary to “distortions and lies” by the opposition, Gov. Alex Otti, never spent N927 million on meals and refreshments.
According to Government, what was spent by the entire 76 Ministries and Departments in the state on refreshments and meals for the third quarter was N223,389,889.84 , adding that the figure was not spent by the office of the Governor alone.
The figure, according to Government, also covers expenses for special events, such as retreats, conferences, and related events
In a joint press conference in Umuahia, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Kingsley Anosike; his Information counterpart, Prince Okey Kanu; and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kazie Uko, expressed shock “how members of the opposition mischievously twisted figures released by Government on the Q3 expenses to blackmail the Governor”.
Anosike explained that what the state spent on welfare in the period under review was only N397,520,734.84 , and not the fictitious figures being bandied by harbingers of fake news.
He further noted that “the Welfare Expenditure covers all the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and not just the Governor’s Office, as wrongly alleged.”
Continuing, he said: “Expenses under welfare, deal with issues of health, rehabilitation and public emergencies.”
Insisting that the Gov. Otti-led administration has been judicious in managing the resources of the state, Anosike said “the Welfare expenditure is in line with the State Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS); an initiative of the Federal Government.”
He urged members of the public to discountenance doctored figures being peddled by members of the opposition to discredit the Governor.
Source: Vanguard news
