Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has said that his government has so far spent N90 billion to service the debt of N191.2 billion inherited from the immediate past administration.
He made this known at the November edition of his media chat, saying that the debt payment, which represents 47.1 percent of the total debt profile, “shows how effective this government is”.
Otti said his predecessor inherited just N34.5 billion debt in 2015 but after eight years in office Okezie Ikpeazu grew Abia debt portfolio by over 500 percent which was handed over to his government on May 29, 2023.
However, he stated that despite the huge amount already spent on debt servicing, his government has not borrowed a dime from any source and would continue to manage the finances of the state with prudence.
The Abia chief executive expressed delight over the success recorded by the Abia State Public, Private and Foreign Investments Agency which was set up last year.
He said that the agency has justified the purpose for its establishment, citing the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) report showing that Abia has so far attracted $150 foreign investments inflow to place third behind Lagos and Abuja.
While expressing his happiness that Abia has moved from 27th position to third in the ranking foreign investment destinations in Nigeria, Otti noted that investors don’t pander to emotions.
According to him, foreign investors have been “knocking on our doors” in search of opportunities to invest in Abia, adding that the recent ones include investors from the U.S and Turkey.
On the alleged opacity of road project costs, Otti said that “there’s no rule in place stopping anybody from disclosing the cost of road projects”.
But he was quick to add that information on how much his government spends on every road project would only be made available to “genuine people who want the information”.
Otti made it clear that government expenditure on road projects would not be given to those who want the information for propaganda and other ulterior purposes.
He announced that his government has recently awarded contracts for the construction of several road contracts across the state with total length of 83.32 kilometres.
The governor assured Abia people that all the ongoing road projects were progressing satisfactorily and would be completed according to specifications and time schedule.
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