N22bn Paris Club Refund: Otti Wants Ikpeazu to Recover Money

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Alex Otti, has urged the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, to do everything within his powers to recover the N22 billion Paris Club refund frittered away.

He made the call in a statement he issued yesterday and made available to journalists in Umuahia following the raging controversy surrounding the N22 billion that the state received as its share of the Paris Club refund.

Otti said he was convinced that something was amiss in the way the refund was utilised hence the interest shown by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which has been inviting past officials of the state government for questioning.

The Paris Club refund was excess deductions on the Paris Club debts, which the federal government refunded to states in tranches to assist them defray salary arrears and other debts, as Abia State received a total of N22 billion between 2016 and 2017.

The APC chieftain recalled that he had charged the Ikpeazu administration “to ensure responsibility in the management of the funds,” regretting that contrary to expectations, “the funds were received and utilised without the government clearing the humongous unpaid salary and pension arrears till this moment.”

He stated that the “damning revelations” made by Ikpeazu’s former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Obinna Oriaku, showed that there was more than meets the eye in the engagement of two consultants for the purpose of the Paris Club refund.

“The duplication was aimed at shortchanging the state, hence the engagement of two consultants,” Otti said, adding that it would be proper for the governor to explain why he “did not terminate the agreement on assumption of office knowing that it was unreasonable.”

However, a former state Finance Commissioner, Dr. Phillip Nto, has faulted Otti’s claims, saying it was borne out of “bitterness, frustration and hatred all disguised in the name of patriotism.”

Nto, who served from 2013 to 2015 in the administration of Governor Theodore Orji, insisted that no Paris Club refund was received by that administration, adding that no formal contract was signed with any consultant for the payment of 50 percent consultancy fee.

The former finance commissioner stated that it was mischievous for Otti to allege fraud in the management of the Paris Club refund, as even “the 30 percent stated in the letter was not a formal contract.”