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Following the reported freezing of government’s accounts belonging to Abia State by an Abuja court, which the Governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti has been accused of in some quarters, the Special Adviser (Media and Publicity) to the governor-elect, Ferdinand Ekeoma, has clarified that Otti is not involved directly or indirectly in the development.
Ekeoma, in a statement made available to The Eastern Updates on Tuesday titled, ‘Frozen Abia State Bank Accounts: Leave Alex Otti Out Of Your Self-Inflicted Problems,’ stated that Otti does not know the person or persons behind the action.’
Recall that the state’s Commissioner of Information, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo, had, in a statement, at the weekend, decried freezing of the accounts by an ex parte order, saying: ‘No arm of government has right to ground the other for any reason whatsoever.’
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Apparently referring to the Labour Party (LP)-led incoming administration, the Commissioner warned those he referred to as emissaries of destabilisation to immediately retrace their steps and allow a peaceful and seamless transition of power to the in-coming administration on May 29.
But reacting to the Commissioner’s statement, Ekeoma stated that though they would not waste precious time and energy educating “elements and merchants of disinformation on operational methodology and mechanisms of financial institutions, vis-a-vis grounds upon which a court of law can freeze accounts of any state government, it would be important to react.
He, therefore, listed five reasons Otti is not involved, directly or indirectly in freezing the said state government accounts, or knows the person or persons behind the action.
He stated that Otti is neither insensitive nor cowardly, and not known for acting through deception, and, thus, could not have initiated such action in secrecy, and in a manner that would affect the welfare of Abians, especially workers.
He added: “For accusing Otti falsely to misrepresent him and mislead the public, the governor-elect will now get involved, since the outcome would affect his administration which takes effect from May 29.”
He queried if it is a difficult thing for the Okezie Ikpeazu-led government to publish the court documents for the world to see. Ekeoma said: “Those linking Otti with the legal action should know that the humongous liabilities, which include questionable debts and mountains of unpaid salary and pension arrears being left behind by the outgoing government are challenges Otti is gearing up to confront and defeat, and, thus, would not waste time pursuing any agenda that will not serve the interest of Abians at a time they need to heave a sigh of relief from Ikpeazu’s eight years of oppressive and repressive governance.”
