Abia Governor Otti reportedly spends N1billion on food, welfare, honorarium

A third quarter financial report of the Abia State Government has caused a stir on social media after it emerged that between July and September 2023, the administration spent N927million on refreshment/meals, settlement of honorarium, allowances and welfare packages.

The report titled “Abia State Third Quarter (July – September) 2023 Budget Performance” was posted on the state government’s website. (https://abiastate.gov.ng/abia-state-3rd-quarter-2023-budget-performance-report-2/)

The Abia Government’s financial statement is coming a day after a disclosure of the Lagos State Government procurement report which showed spending of N7m for the Governor’s office air freshener, N30 million monthly for the deputy governor’s wife to use for welfare, N440 million for bullet proof SUV for the use of the Chief of Staff, and other such shocking spendings.

The Lagos government spending is similar to the Abia government which spent N223,389,889.84 on refreshment/meals, N305,400,000.00 on honorarium and sitting allowance for government officials, all within three months.

The government also spent N397,520,734.00 on welfare packages.

According to the document, N737,922,661.25 was spent to buy motor vehicles. The quantity and those vehicles bought were not stated.

Also, N362,804,050.00 was spent by the Abia government to purchase trucks and another N400,890,000.00 was used for the purchase of buses.

Also in the document, the government spent N252.4m to run the Deputy Governor’s office for 3 months.

The report also showed that N25 million was used to repair public schools in the state.