Abia denies spending ₦1b on feeding and welfare for the Governor’s office

Abia State Government has described as untrue reports in the social media that the Alex Otti-led administration in the State, has spent close to ₦1billion on feeding and welfare for the Governor’s Office, within the period under review.

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The State Government in a press statement, jointly signed, by Kazie Uko, chief press secretary and Ferdinand Ekeoma, special adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity and made available to BusinessDay,, Monday night, stated that the accurate situation is that nothing in that region has been spent in the Governor’s Office.

According to the statement, the total amount spent so far, by the entire government of Abia State, for refreshments and meals for the period is N223,389,889.84, noting that the figure above is as captured in all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.

It stated that this figure is for the entire State and not for the Office of the Governor, as being erroneously portrayed.

It also affirmed that the stated figure covers expenses for special events, such as retreats, conferences, and related events.

For welfare, the Abia State Government said that it has so far spent the sum of N397,520,734.84, which is in line with the State Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS); an initiative of the Federal Government.

The State Government explained that the welfare expenditure covers all the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and not just the Governor’s Office, as wrongly alleged.

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It stated that expenses under welfare deals with issues of health, rehabilitation and public emergencies.

Consequently, it promised to continue to uphold transparency in governance, as has been demonstrated in the publication of the budget performance report for two consecutive quarters of 2023.