‘I Met Abia In Bad Shape But I’m Not Complaining’

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has revealed his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, left the state in bad shape.

Lamenting the condition at which he met the state after taking over leadership, Otti detailed that while he was not totally against debts, it was quite disappointing that he did not see what the money borrowed by his predecessor was used for.

The governor, while speaking on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday, said he is not complaining, adding that he was already dealing with the mess that his predecessor left.

Asked if he met the state in a bad condition, Otti said, “Absolutely, very, very bad shape, but I am not complaining. I have folded my sleeves and I am just dealing with what I met here.

“My worry is not really about debt, it is about what the debt is used for. If you inherited a debt profile of N34.4 billion by May 29, 2015 and eight years later you ran that debt to about N192.2 billion; I really can’t see anything that you have done with the money, salaries were not being paid, pensioners were being owed, infrastructure was decaying, the place go into ruins, schools were run down completely, hospitals were dilapidated.

“So, the issue is where did the money go? If I am going to take debt, it is going to go into regenerative expenditure. But when you are taking loans and you are running the state into debt, just for consumption, you are not investing in the state; you are not paying salaries; that’s actually what I was talking about.”