Abians Have Lost Faith: The Deceit Behind Otti’s N1 Trillion Budgets and the Alarming Signs of Systemic Fraud By Obinna Oriaku
Abia State has entered a troubling era where budgeting has become less a tool for economic planning and more a weapon of political deception. Citizens are increasingly disillusioned, and rightly so. Under Governor Alex Otti’s administration, the state’s budget has transformed into an instrument of propaganda rather than a reflection of real development.
Last week, Governor Otti presented the 2026 budget estimate of N1.1 trillion, christened the “Budget of Acceleration and New Possibilities.”” In comparison, other states have kept their 2026 budgets within reasonable limits, Oyo at N891 billion, Anambra at N750 billion, Ebonyi at N884 billion, and even oil-rich Akwa Ibom at N1.3 trillion.
Yet, the most sobering contrast came from Lagos State: while presenting a N4.2 trillion budget, Governor Sanwo-Olu noted it would be his last budget presentation in office. Governor Otti should take note because the 2026 budget may very well be his last functional budget. He may not be fully responsible for the 2027 fiscal year. It is regrettable that almost 3 years after being sworn in salaries, pensions and gratuity are still subject of discussions .
But this is not the real issue.
The real issue is that Abians no longer trust budgets under this administration. And the reasons are overwhelming.
During his September 2025 media chat, Governor Otti openly dismissed the fundamental principles of budgeting. When confronted with his own government’s Q2 budget performance report, which showed that N78 billion had been spent under capital expenditure for “repairs of public schools,” he denied the official document claiming that budget performance was merely an estimate.
If budget performance is “a mere estimate,” one wonders the significance of last week’s elaborate presentation even holds.
To worsen the deceit, Governor Otti conspicuously omitted the N150 billion supplementary budget during his review of the 2025 budget. This omission was not accidental. It was deliberate.
The truth is that Abia’s 2025 budget is not N750 billion anymore; it is N900 billion. But admitting this would expose the administration’s poor performance and questionable spending patterns.
A sincere government would address its failures before inflating its next fiscal projections.
But here are the brutal facts from available records (January–September 2025):
1.) Internally Generated Revenue (IGR): N1207 billion projected → N45 billion achieved (38%)
2.) Recurrent Expenditure: N173 billion projected → N61 billion achieved (35%)
3.) Capital Expenditure: N726 billion projected → N203 billion achieved (28%)
Total Revenue: N900 billion projected → N264 billion achieved (29%)
With an abysmal average budget performance of 30% in the current year, why inflate the next year’s budget to over N1 trillion?
Because performance on paper, not reality, is the new governance standard in Abia.
Those who have followed the antics of this administration understand the motive clearly just to create the illusion of massive performance, fuel social-media excitement, and suppress scrutiny.
But reality is catching up.
On 27 November 2025, Abia pensioners held a press conference begging a government with a N1 trillion budget to pay pensions owed and outstanding gratuity from 2003.. Abia State is the only state in the southeast and entire federation that has failed and deliberately refused to pay gratuity of workers even with huge allocations. Imo State used N70 billion to clear gratuity of workers from 2005 to 2024 , Kastina State used N24 billion Bayelsa State N12 billion, but Abia state is forcing pensions to forfeit their gratuity of about N70b to a state that receives N49billion monthly total revenue which includes local government allocations.
If this is the meaning of “acceleration” and “new possibilities,” Abians want no part of it.
Throughout 2025, the government boasted of an “82% capital expenditure and 18% recurrent” structure. Yet Abians cannot point to iconic projects. The N738.28 billion supposedly allocated to capital projects has no physical equivalent anywhere in the state. Beyond cosmetics and media soundbites, there is little to justify such spending.
Budgeting has become a mirage numbers on paper, nothing on the ground.
Another suspicious omission from the 2026 budget presentation is the $150 million African Development Bank (AfDB) loan, which reportedly entered the state’s FCMB account in Umuahia in August 2025.
The administration has maintained silence on this loan, likely to uphold the false image that it “does not borrow.” But anyone familiar with AfDB development financing knows these processes take years. This loan did not fall from the sky.
Why is this important aspect of the budget missing from the Governor’s disclosure, especially when N406 billon of the N1 trillion is predicted on external and local loans.
Abians deserve answers.
The Governor also projected N168 billion in “other federal inflows,” pretending they are separate from total revenue. His aides should know now know the difference between total FAAC and total Revenue.
The bulk of this projection is clearly tied to LNG dividends and other federal government interventions , not miraculous economic innovation.
Internally Generated Revenue [IGR] or Independent Revenue projection of N223 billion for 2026. A deliberate decoration just to score cheap political accolades.
This paticular revenue projection shows the unrealistic nature of the 1 trillion budget. Abia state was generating about N2 billion monthly until June 2024 when they started adding all the school fees collections and all the fees paid at government hospitals, which dramatically increased monthly collections to about 4 billion monthly. From January 2025 to September 2025, total collections stood at N45 billion as shown in the QTR 3 2025 financial report . Except for decit and propaganda, what miracle will make the collections grow from the current 45 billion to 223 billion. This is a state that has not welcomed any new functional companies or factories since 2023, even with all the noise about performance. This clearly demonstrates that job creation is zero under this administration.
Another attempt at deception.
For nearly three years, the government has proudly advertised its allocation of 20% of the budget to education.
But facts do not align with reality.
N85 billion has reportedly been spent on repairs of public schools. To date, nothing on the ground justifies that figure. Many schools still have leaking roofs, broken desks, and reptile-infested environments. The UBE funds are separate, yet the state has little to show for them, too. This is the kind of budgeting that insults public intelligence.
The administration also claims to allocate 15% of the budget to health.
But where is the evidence?
What projects consumed N67 billion?
Why do major general hospitals still operate in dilapidated, unsafe conditions?
Why are essential facilities still in a state of abandonment?
Abians know the truth: the numbers are inflated, the results nonexistent.
Every year, the budgets get bigger.
Every year, the outcomes get smaller.
Every year, the lies get louder.
The Otti administration is managing Abia by spreadsheets and propaganda not by development, transparency, or accountability.
Abians are no longer fooled by trillion-naira announcements. They want transparency, Prudence, Value for money, Genuine infrastructure, Real development and Honest leadership as Budgets are not theatre scripts. They are development instruments, and Abians deserve a government that respects that truth.
Attached is QTR3 Abia State January to September 2025 Accountant General financial report.
Obinna Oriaku
Ekwedike
Former Commissioner of Finance 2015 to 2019.
