Before reading this, remember that almost N400bn of the funds for this proposed spending will be borrowed.
1. Out of the N91.5bn budgeted for Recurrent Expenditure in Abia in 2024, a whopping sum of N19.2bn of the money will be used to run Governor Otti’s office.
2. That will be 21% of the recurrent expenditure of the state, and 3.3% of the entire budget of N576bn.
3. A big question remains how 21% of the recurrent expenditure of a state of 4 million people will be used to service just one man.
4. Another worrying question for me is what capital project in the governor’s house at Umuru Nvosi will cost Abians N7.9bn.
5. Further breakdown of the recurrent expenditure shows that OVERHEAD costs alone will cost Abians N10.71bn. This is really worrying.
6. The most worrying part of this N19.2bn spend on servicing our billionaire governor is that Abia’s IGR which averages about N15bn annually will not be enough to service the governor in 2024.
7. The biggest worry for me is that Governor Otti, who campaigned on the basis of cutting down the cost of governance is doing entirely the opposite, and may plunge Abia into serious unsustainable debt.
From the published Appropriation Law of 2024, servicing the governor, his deputy, the House of Assembly and the Judiciary alone, will cost Abians over N41bn (7.2% of the budget).
To maintain his propaganda machine in National TV Stations and Lagos Media Houses, Governor Alex C. Otti has budgeted the sum of N10.89bn for The Ministry of Information & N1.36bn for BCA in 2024.
Abia is not yet out of the woods. Pray for Abia! More details to follow.
Source of data: Abia State of Nigeria 2024 Appropriation Law
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