‘You Need Tutorial’ – Abia Govt Lambasts Benjamin Kalu Over False Claims

The Abia State government has responded to the posers raised by Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu on the utilisation of available resources for more infrastructural development of the state.

The government in a press release by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Governor Alex Otti, Ferdinand Ekeoma dismissed Kalu’s allegations as political mischief while detailing Abia State Government’s financial receipts from FAAC and how rising inflation impacted on government expenditures.

Ekeonma explained that, “It’s important to lay a foundation premised on empirical data which would serve as a potent tool in curing Kalu’s deep-rooted deficiency of knowledge in financial and economic matters.

Abia’s 2025 Year to date FAAC allocation (8 months) including LGA, stands at N125b .

“Meanwhile, if we were to go by Kalu’s false claim of a monthly sum of N38b, it would have stood at N304b. Should a Deputy Speaker of a Federal Legislature be associated with such bare faced lies?

“As at April 2023, a few days before Governor Alex Otti assumed office, the exchange rate stood at N460 to the dollar. At the present rate of N1,500 to the dollar, N3.2b today is equivalent to N1b in 2023.

“Given that Nigeria is import dependent, the devaluation has seen states gain in nominal terms, but very little in real terms, because key projects are executed with items and equipment whose components are acquired in foreign currency. This is why a road project that was built with N1b in 2022 would cost close to N4 b today. If inflation is factored in at an average rate of 20% per annum, the situation would further exacerbate.

“Prior to Governor Alex Otti’s assumption of office, minimum wage being paid in Abia was N30,000 and this was only going to those classified as Core Civil Servants. Today, minimum wage stands at between N70,000 to N74,000. Kalu’s limited knowledge of financial matters and the economy obviously deprived him of requisite information and facts that could help him when confusion sets in. Couldn’t he have sought help instead of disgracing himself the way he did?

“Prior to Governor Otti’s emergence, the number of Abia Civil Servants stood at 31,000 according to the then Governor Okezie Ikpeazu (See The Cable, Tribune Online March 30, 2023)

“Today, the total number of verified Abia workers stands at over 67,000, excluding the 5,349 newly recruited teachers. What this implies is that tens of thousands of Abia workers who have now been brought into the state payroll were hitherto oppressed, isolated and abandoned under the guise that they were none core civil servants.

“Ironically, Kalu didn’t utter a word when this injustice was meted to Abians, including his constituents, because he wasn’t sure of the ambition he presently nurses, which of course is the real motive behind his petty posturing lately.”