●Says Otti lied deliberately to mislead Abians
Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, a former Commissioner for Information in Abia State has said that the Abia Financial review report done by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG), a multinational professional services network that provides Audit Advisory, Tax and Legal Services, confirms that former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu left a net credit balance of N3.48 billion for Governor Alex Otti.
Okiyi-Kalu explained that against all the negative agenda of the current government against Ikpeazu, he even left more for Otti stressing that cash in the bank was different from other near-cash assets, such as a 3.5% share in Aba Independent Power Project (IPP) Geometric which was now valued at N80 billion, among others.
He stated that even the net credit balance of N3.48 billion was enough to pay two months’ workers’ salary in Abia State and wondered why a man who left such an amount of money should constantly be demonized by the incumbent Governor of Abia State.
The former Commissioner further said that they discovered that KPMG only executed a financial process review, while Governor Otti told the world that he had a “forensic audit report done by one of the top three audit firms in the world ” in hand.
Okiyi-Kalu said that given that one should at least expect a former Managing Director of a Bank to know the difference between a Process Review report and a Forensic Audit Report, he could only say that Otti lied deliberately to mislead the public.
He expressed sadness that many members of Otti’s cheering crowd did not know the difference between an audit and a process review
He advised all those whi were confused about the two terms to do proper research to know the differences between them.
“How much did Governor Alex Otti pay KPMG? Abians deserve to know because we are already paying a state-owned audit unit that would have done a far better job.
“So far, Otti’s government has spent N9 billion on a subhead called “research & development”. What is he researching and developing in Abia State? Check quarterly financial reports published by his administration, if in doubt.
“Based on antecedent, never trust anything said by Governor Otti. He lies and misrepresents facts too frequently to be taken seriously.
“Did you notice that after I responded to his allegation of missing N10b with details of road contractors paid from the money, he said, “The money was moved into 32 different accounts” instead of the money being paid into 32 road contractors’ accounts?”
He said that he remained grateful to whoever forced Otti to leak the KPMG report, stressing that at face value, the report exonerated Ikpeazu of any wrongdoing and highlighted the leadership shortcomings of Otti.
“A Governor does not award contracts in Abia State and a Governor does not sign Cheques. It is the Finance & General Purpose Committee (F & GPC) that reviews tenders, recommend companies for the award of contracts and passes the same to State Exco for approval.
“Similarly, only the top officials of the Ministry of Finance sign State Government Cheques and at the level of ministries it is the Permanent Secretary and Director of Finance.
“As a Commissioner in Abia State for six years I never signed any government or ministry cheque because it is not within my remit. Where then is the evidence of Dr Ikpeazu stealing N10bn meant for Abia Airport.”
Okiyi-Kalu called on all those who needed a copy of the process review report, to contact him via his WhatsApp, assuring that he would send it to them if he believed they were capable of understanding such reports.
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