Abia owes FG $20m

By Anayo Okoli

Umuahia—ABIA State Government says it is still owing the Federal Government $20 million, which the Federal Government is deducting from its monthly allocation.

The debt,  the government explained was inherited from old Imo State, which was borrowed to build industries.  Governor Theodore Orji also disclosed that the Federal Government is owing the state but has not been paying it. Governor Orji made this known yesterday,  while interacting with Aba Business Community in Umuahia, where he presented to them his score card so far.

Governor Orji said that  his administration had the development of Aba as its priority but lamented that what was hindering him was inadequate funds. He said that at present, the government had awarded a total of 33 road projects in the commercial city. Two of them, Aba-Owerri Road and Port Harcourt Roads are costing the state government, N5.8 billion. The Governor, who also spoke on the issue of providing water to Aba, explained that the government was pursuing the project.

Addressing the interactive session,  which was attended by leaders and members of different professions operating in Aba, Orji said that the state had very scarce funds to work with. According to him, “this month, the state got an allocation of N2.4 billion out of which N1.4 billion went to the wage bill.”

Assuring the people that Aba will not be neglected in any way, the Governor promised that security measures were being put in place and that the issue of kidnapping in the state and Aba in particular would soon be a thing of the past.

He also said that his administration had a lot of interest in the health sector and that the government had so far built a total of 165 health centres, while specialist hospitals will be built in Aba and Umuahia, which he disclosed will be equipped by Indians with latest state of the art equipment.