Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has replied Dr. Alex Otti, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate in Abia State in 2015.

Ikpeazu in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos, said: “…At no point did the Governor Ikpeazu administration publicly claim that it needs only N6bn to clear salary, pensions and gratified outstanding in the state. Rather it is a matter of public record which can be verified from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Debt Management Office of the Presidency that the documents submitted by the Abia State Government in lieu of the request for bailout indicated a requirement of N38bn to clear all the outstanding salaries as of October 2015.”

“Only N14.2bn was approved for the state. It is also public knowledge that when the facility was received, the state government transparently set up a committee dominated by Labour leaders in the state to allocate all the resources to the payment of some of the outstanding salaries and pensions.”

“Unlike other states, ICPC and Labour leaders reviewed the application of the facility and commended the government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu for prudently managing the bailout loan without diverting any portion to competing needs.”

“Even with regards to the approval from the Abia State House of Assembly to borrow N30bn, the Ikpeazu administration never accessed those funds to date. We challenge Mr. Otti to publish the name(s) of the local bank that availed the facility to the state government or shut up.”