Abia State Q3 Budget Expenses: Understanding the Issues

Abia govt clarifies Q3 budget expenses

——says only N397 million spent on MDAs, others

Emelam Udo, Umuahia.

Abia state government has restated that in line with her Commitment to always instil transparency, good governance and fiscal discipline, it will always publish the quarterly budget report for Abians to see.

In a Statement jointly signed by Kazie Uko and Ferdinand Ekeoma, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor and Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity respectively said  following the publication of the Q3 budget report of the Abia state government, it has become necessary to shed more light on the aforementioned report.

It stated that this step has become inevitable following certain distorted reports on social media, alleging that the Abia State Government had spent close to One Billion Naira on feeding and welfare for the Governor’s Office, within the period under review.

The statement made it clear that the accurate situation is that nothing in that region had been spent in the Governor’s Office.

It said that the total amount spent so far by the entire government of Abia State for Refreshments and Meals for the period is N223,389,889.84.

According to the Statement, the above figure is as captured in all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.

That it should be noted that this figure is for the entire state and not for the Office of the Governor, as it is being erroneously portrayed in some social media platforms.

It further stated that this figure covers expenses for special events, such as retreats, conferences, and related events.

It pointed out that for the welfare, the State Government has so far spent the sum of N397,520,734.84.

It made it known that Welfare expenditure was in line with the State Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme (SFTAS); an initiative of the Federal Government.

The statement equally noted that the Welfare Expenditure covers all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and not just the Governor’s Office, as was wrongly alleged.

It also made it clear that Expenses under Welfare covers issues of Health, Rehabilitation and Public Emergencies.

It reiterated that Abia State Government, under the leadership of Alex C. Otti, would continue to uphold transparency in governance, as has been demonstrated in the publication of the budget performance report for two consecutive quarters