There is palpable fear among Abia State government officials as feelers indicate that the Governor, Mr Alex Otti has concluded plans to sack all those responsible for the budget scandal that the administration is currently enmeshed in.
The sack fear gripped the officials after it was revealed that Alex Otti was livid and has remained inconsolable over the damaging publicity the 3rd Quarter 2023 budget report has brought upon him and his government.
A reliable government official who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said Otti is blaming everyone connected to the budget report preparation and publication, saying that they should have known that they should have known that publishing the true figures as they did would bring embarrassment to him and the government.
According to the source, the Governor expected that more sums should have been taken from the meals/welfare, governor’s office, security vote subheads and allocated to the more people-oriented subheads like health and education.
Although this would not have represented the true position of the expenditure, it would have been necessary to avoid the kind of widespread backlash it generated in the media and among the general public.
He further said that the event surrounding the budget scandal has served as a lesson to the Otti administration which is already working to ensure that the same “mistake is not repeated in the next quarter budget report”.
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