A report by The ICIR and The Mail has exposed how Abia State Government, headed by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, spent N1.4 billion on vehicles in the Government House and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) instead of N231 million appropriated in the revised budget.
The report also revealed illegal loan procurement above N11 billion by Abia State Government.
The report detailed the questionable extra-budgetary expenditures by the offices of the governor, deputy governor, ministries of environment and solid minerals and the state’s environmental protection agency.
The total extra spending by these four offices exceeded N14 billion.
An analysis of the 2020 Report of Accountant General with Financial Statements of the Abia State Government revealed that the Governor’s Office purchased an unspecified number and undisclosed brands of vehicles for Government House and MDAs for N1.4 billion in 2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
