Abia govt tackles deputy speaker Kalu over comments on Otti administration

The Abia State Government has taken a swipe at Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, describing his recent comments on the performance of Governor Alex Otti as “spurious” and “ill-informed.”

Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency, had in a trending video compared Otti’s administration with those of his predecessors, sparking a strong rebuttal from the state government.

In a statement issued on Monday and signed by Governor Otti’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, the government accused Kalu of spreading falsehoods about the state’s finances and demonstrating “a deep-rooted deficiency of knowledge in financial and economic matters.”

The statement said contrary to Kalu’s claim that Abia receives N38 billion monthly in federal allocations, official figures showed that the state and its local governments had received a total of N125 billion in the first eight months of 2025. “If we were to go by Kalu’s false claim, it would have stood at N304 billion,” Ekeoma said.

The government also cited inflation, exchange rate pressures and rising project costs as factors affecting real revenue values, stressing that what appeared as nominal gains in allocations had little effect in real terms. “A road project built with N1 billion in 2022 would cost close to N4 billion today,” the statement explained.

On welfare, Ekeoma noted that Otti’s administration had raised the minimum wage for Abia workers from N30,000 under the previous government to between N70,000 and N74,000, while also expanding the state’s payroll to 67,000 verified workers, in addition to over 5,000 newly recruited teachers. Many of these, he said, had been excluded under past administrations.

The statement also accused the deputy speaker of political double standards, alleging that his recent criticisms were driven by his governorship ambitions. “Kalu should have been magnanimous enough to mention the administration of his former boss and benefactor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, when he was comparing past governments,” it said.

The government further accused Kalu of “playing to the gallery” by publicly advising Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to halt demolitions in the state, instead of offering private counsel if he was genuinely concerned.

“Kalu should know that President Tinubu knows traitors and sycophants when he sees them, hence it is difficult to deceive him with lies and incitement,” the statement read.

Ekeoma concluded that the massive crowd turnout during President Tinubu’s recent visit to Aba, where Otti played host, was proof of popular support for the governor’s administration. He advised Kalu to “relax, wait for the appropriate time to launch his governorship bid,” and ensure he was financially literate before challenging the Otti government on figures.