A shocking revelation has come out on how the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu plundered the State funds to the tone of 107.2 billion Naira for projects that never existed.

A former Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu 

The Governor of Abia State, Alex Chioma Otti who made the revelation while speaking at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, USA said that at the beginning of his administration he enlisted the services of one of the top audit firms in the world to scrutinize the State's account and it led to the disturbing discovery of many questionable transactions.

Governor Otti who made a presentation on, "State Governance and economic transition: Meeting the challenges" explained that the forensic audit unearthed corrupt malpractices in the previous administration in Abia State under Okezie Ikpeazu, including the disbursement of funds to contractors for non-existent project.

Governor Alex Otti speaking in Washington DC 

Governor Otti who said that, a staggering sum of 79.3 billion Naira was paid to seven contractors who failed to execute any of the contracted projects, added that 15.9 billion Naira was allocated to 63 contractors without any supporting documentation. While also, 12 billion Naira was disbursed to two contractors for non-existent projects, including a huge payment of 10 billion Naira payment made in September, 2020 for the construction of the Abia State airport. 

It could be recalled that earlier this year, the Governor of Abia State Alex Otti disclosed that his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu incurred a debt of 192 billion Naira for the State. This mounting debt burden comes on top of 34.5 billion Naira inherited by Governor Ikpeazu from his predecessor, Theodore Ahamefula Orji.