The immediate past Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Lands Development Authority (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, has expressed concerns over the Alex Otti-led administration’s claim that it spent ₦54 billion on renobagion and construction of public schools across Abia State.
TheHintsNews reports hat the state government in a report signed by the Accountant General of Abia State, Njum Uma-Onyemenam revealed that the state generated N320 billion in 2024 from Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and other capital receipts, excluding local government earnings and borrowings.
Among the key expenditures listed in the report — published on the state government’s official website on January 28, 2025 — are include rehabilitation of Public Schools – N54.07 billion
However, Ikonne who spoke through his media assistant, Dr. Ujo Justice, while addressing stakeholders in Ukwa, Ikonne described the government’s claim as “deeply suspicious, laughable, and insulting to the collective intelligence of Abians,” especially when compared to the current shameful condition of schools in the state.
Ikonne in a statement issued Sunday questioned how any responsible government could boldly claim to have spent such an enormous sum—₦54 billion—on merely 53 schools, without corresponding evidence on the ground.
He said: “What we see in Ukwa and several other parts of Abia is an education sector that is visibly in ruins. Ceilings are caving in, blackboards are barely usable, roofs are missing, walls are covered in moss, and some students still sit on bare floors under leaking roofs.
“If ₦54 billion was truly spent, then show us where. Which schools? What exactly was done? Let the government name them and take us there.”
Ikonne, therefore, challenged the government to immediately publish a breakdown of how the ₦54 billion was disbursed—identifying the contractors, locations, timelines, and photographic or video evidence of completed work.
He noted that anything short of this transparency amounts to a blatant disrespect for accountability and governance.
Ikonne called on Otti to invite journalists, civil society organisations, and independent assessors to embark on an open and unscripted tour of the so-called renovated schools.
“Until then,”m this ₦54 billion remains a phantom project—something that only exists on budget documents and media headlines,” he insisted.
Ikonne stressed that the dilapidated condition of state-owned tertiary institutions such as the Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology, where parts of the buildings have collapsed, leaving students in unsafe and non-conducive learning environments.
“If we can’t even maintain our own health college, how can we claim that we’re making progress in education? It is an utter disgrace and a sign of failed priorities,” he said.