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A red flag has been raised over Governor Alex Otti’s request for a whopping N56.73 billion loan to fund the operations of Abia State‘s Local Government Areas, which are currently being managed by transition committees.
The Abia State House of Assembly is being cautioned against rubber-stamping this loan request, sparking a heated debate about fiscal responsibility.
Chief John Okiyi Kalu, the erstwhile Commissioner for Trade and Investments, ignited a firestorm on Tuesday with a scathing statement that landed on the desks of media outlets, sounding a clarion call for caution.
Chief John Okiyi Kalu raised eyebrows over the Abia State Government’s sudden move to secure a loan on behalf of local government areas, mere days after the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling granting financial independence to these very same entities. The timing, he suggested, reeks of ulterior motives.
“That loan of N57 billion must not be approved under any guise because that will be an illegal act”.
Chief John Okiyi Kalu has lambasted the Abia State Government for its blatant disregard of the Supreme Court’s verdict, a move that’s being seen as a blatant attempt to undermine the rule of law. Compounding the issue is the Speaker’s puzzling refusal to recognize an Appeal Court judgment, leaving many to wonder if the state’s leadership is above the law.
Chief John Okiyi Kalu pointed out that the Speaker’s intransigence has reached new heights, as he continues to deny Honorable Aaron Uzodike, the duly elected PDP representative for Aba North State Constituency, his rightful place in the legislature. The appellate court’s verdict, it seems, has fallen on deaf ears.
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Okiyi stated that Abia government should borrow a leaf from Osun State where “all the Transition Council Executives have reportedly resigned in deference to the recent Supreme Court ruling”.
“Obviously, any action taken by those appointed by Governor Alex Otti will be deemed illegal, null and void in the eyes of the law yet he retains them because of hubris,” he said.
The former Abia government spokesman said that instead of looking for ways to beguile Abia people and dip hands into council funds, Otti should “simply go and conduct LGA elections as previous governors did and allow the LGAs run autonomously”.
He recalled that “when we alerted that N45b was borrowed from a commercial bank using the state’s JAAC account they (Otti government) lied about that and denied it. But we said the lie would expire”.
The government’s attempt to borrow money on behalf of the council areas has proved a Pyrrhic victory for the opposition, whose warnings about the government’s profligacy have been borne out by events.
This latest development has only served to reinforce the opposition’s narrative of a government hell-bent on fiscal irresponsibility.