The Abia State Government has faulted recent comments made by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, accusing him of making “spurious and misleading claims” about the performance of Governor Alex Otti’s administration.
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, the government described Kalu’s remarks as “a reflection of deep-rooted ignorance in financial and economic matters,” urging him to “seek tutorials rather than grandstand before microphones.”
According to Ekeoma, Kalu’s claim that the Otti-led government receives ₦38 billion monthly from the Federation Account was “a barefaced lie” inconsistent with verifiable data.
“Abia’s 2025 year-to-date FAAC allocation for eight months, including LGAs, stands at ₦125 billion. If we were to go by Kalu’s false claim, the figure would have been ₦304 billion. Should a Deputy Speaker of a Federal Legislature be associated with such misrepresentation?” the statement queried.
The statement further explained that the sharp devaluation of the naira has drastically affected the real value of state allocations.
“As of April 2023, before Governor Otti assumed office, the exchange rate was ₦460 to the dollar. Today, it stands at about ₦1,500. That means ₦3.2 billion today is equivalent to ₦1 billion in 2023. While allocations may appear higher in nominal terms, their real value has plummeted due to inflation and import dependency,” Ekeoma said.
On workers’ welfare, the government maintained that Otti’s administration had recorded major improvements compared to previous governments.
“Before Otti took office, Abia’s minimum wage was ₦30,000, and that was only for core civil servants. Today, the minimum wage ranges between ₦70,000 and ₦74,000. The Deputy Speaker’s shallow grasp of economic issues prevents him from understanding this reality,” Ekeoma added.
He also pointed out that the verified number of Abia civil servants has risen from 31,000, as declared by former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, to over 67,000, excluding 5,349 newly recruited teachers.
“This implies that thousands of Abia workers previously sidelined and denied wages have now been restored to the payroll. Ironically, Kalu said nothing during that injustice because he was preoccupied with political calculations ahead of 2027,” the statement read.
Ekeoma further accused the Deputy Speaker of double standards, noting that he conveniently omitted the administration of his “former boss and benefactor,” Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, while making comparisons with former Governors T.A. Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu.
“If Kalu wasn’t playing politics, he would have acknowledged that his former boss received even less allocation than his successors,” he said.
The Abia government also faulted Kalu’s public criticism of Lagos State’s demolition exercise, describing it as a “populist attempt to curry favour” rather than a sincere intervention.
“Kalu should know that President Tinubu can recognize sycophancy when he sees it. Pretending to defend the public while pursuing selfish ambition will not deceive him,” the statement warned.
Concluding, Ekeoma dismissed Kalu’s recent comments as an early symptom of his rumoured governorship ambition.
“What Kalu saw in Aba was just a rehearsal. Those who came out in their thousands to welcome Governor Otti and the President’s representative were not paid or uniformed—they were genuine supporters who know the difference between good governance and deceit,” he said.
“We advise him to calm down, have a cold drink, and wait for 2027. To take on this government on numbers, you must be financially literate,” Ekeoma concluded.
