A pro-All Progressives Congress (APC) group in Abia State has challenged Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, to prove his commitment to transparency by demanding accountability from Governor Alex Otti over alleged missing school projects worth N54 billion.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, the Abia Best Interest Association (ABIA), led by its convener, Eze Chikamnayo, accused the Otti-led administration of systemic corruption and impunity, citing its failure to publish the list, locations, contractors, and images of 51 public schools reportedly funded between the first and fourth quarter of 2024.
The group claimed that despite the massive allocation, no new smart school has been completed or commissioned in the state nearly two years into Otti’s tenure.
“We must ask Mr. Peter Obi to practice what he preached. We must ask Mr. Alex Otti and LP to verify the public schools and show the world that, after two years, there is not a single smart school to be seen in Abia State. Yet billions, N54 billion, not N1 billion, not N2 billion, not N10 billion, have been taken away from the coffers of Abia’s taxpayers’ money.
“If he fails to act, it means that LP is not a party to be trusted with the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So we are saying that Mr. Alex Otti must come clean. And we are challenging Mr. Peter Obii today to stop all the noise he is making across this country about transparency and accountability. Charity ought to begin at home.
“Let Mr. Peter Obi take Mr. Alex Ottii into one small room and give him sufficient tutelage and a lecture on transparency and accountability. And let him know that Mr. Alex Otti and Mr. Peter Obi lacks the credibility and morality to discuss transparency and accountability in Nigeria when Abia State is in such a state, when our state is bleeding, and when 51 public schools, purportedly built with 54 billion naira, are nowhere to be found across the length and breadth of Abia state. That is our point.
“Because we find it very intriguing and indeed very paradoxical that Mr. Peter Obi would go and pontificate about transparency and accountability at the national level and overlook the looming danger of others being swallowed by one individual who is running a one-man government in the environment we now call Abia State. And that is the point we are making.
“Our involvement in this matter is born out of patriotism and a sense of responsibility. Our involvement in this matter is borne out of the need to secure the future of our children. Our involvement in this matter is borne out of the need to ensure that our democracy survives.”
ABIA disclosed that it had written to anti-graft agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and other bodies such as the National Assembly, UNESCO, World Bank, Transparency International, and Amnesty International.
According to the group, these interventions are necessary to prevent education funds from being used “as a conduit for misappropriation of public funds.”
“In the interest of Abia State, Abia children and generations yet unborn, we have dragged the state government, under Alex Otti-led administration, to all relevant anti-corruption agencies, locally and internationally.
“We have also written to the National Assembly, UNESCO, World Bank, Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Education, and indeed watchdogs like Transparency International, Amnesty International and others for urgent intervention and sanctions where necessary.
“It is our hope that you will join us in our tireless work in promoting transparency and fighting corruption by lending your voice, Platform and influence to ensure that justice is served and accountability is enforced in the Governance of Abia state.”
