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Looting: Otti must apologise to Ikpeazu – PDP *Says Forensic Audit a ruse
Nothing short of immediate apologies from Alex Otti, Abia State Governor to Okezie Ikpeazu, his predecessor, is likely to assuage the angst of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who for the umpteenth time, has called out the governor over the claim that Ikpeazu pocketed the N10billion billed for the once proposed Abia Airport, among other allegations of official malfeasances.
The party, is insisting on the apology, as it claims that it has now been discovered that there was actually no Forensic Audit, of the finances of the state under Ikpeazu, as Otti claimed last month while visiting the US, where he made startling revelations about massive official sleaze by his predecessor, during an address to the indigenes.
Otti, had on Friday, April 19, 2024, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, in the United States of America told his audience: “Talking about corruption, I had set up a forensic audit as soon as I took over office in Abia, last year (2023). So that there won’t be any argument, I called in one of the top three audit firms in the world, and not too long ago, they turned in their report, and some of the things in their report are frightening.
“So, some N9.3 billion was paid to seven contractors for contracts that were not executed at all up till today. Another N15.9 billion (N16 billion) was paid to 63 contractors with no supporting documents anywhere in the state. Another N12 billion was paid to two contractors for contracts that do not exist, out of this figure N10 billion was on September 25, 2020, paid to a contractor for the construction of the Abia State Airport.
“We have spent time trying to locate the airport and up till now have not been able to locate it… So, as we continue to look for our airport, we have also told the security agencies to help us search. When you juxtapose that with pensions that were lying unpaid for about 10 years and the salary arrears, just one of these headings, the N10 billion that was spent to build a non-existent airport, was exactly the amount of money our government used to take off the pension arrears.”
Ikpeazu himself and his political camp, had made strident efforts to deny the allegation, saying it came out of Otti’s penchant to be nosing around all corners in search of anything to rope the former governor in, regardless of the incredulity and futility of the effort, due to his unhidden hatred for him, urging him to face real governance instead of lying to the people.
The PDP, which had since joined in the war of words, upped the ante on Tuesday, once again expressing what it termed “deep concern and disappointment over the use of language by Alex Otti to drag the former PDP administration of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to the mud, and confuse the good people of Abia State, especially when such motives are purely political, unwarranted and totally unnecessary.”
In a statement by Abraham Amah PDP Vice Chairman of the party in the state and regretted that the state had been trending for the wrong reasons in the last three weeks, since the governor’s claim that a certain forensic audit exposed how Ikpeazu frittered away a whopping N107billion out of which N10billion proposed for Abia Airport, grew wings.
The PDP said it had discovered that there was actually a report produced by KPMG, a renowned global audit firm, but that it was nothing near a forensic report, but simply titled a Provisions of Financial Process Review for Abia State Government, where the firm even stated in clear terms in its introductory notes that the said document “is not an audit of Abia financial records but a mere financial process review and subsequently issued caveats absolving it of any opinions in the said report because it did not render any.”
“For the benefit of those who do not know, a forensic audit report is typically conducted with the specific objective of uncovering evidence of fraud or misconduct while a financial process review involves analysing operational workflows, identifying inefficiencies, risks and making recommendations for improvements and may include process redesign and automation and other factors to scale productivity.
“PDP is not surprised that Alex Otti, a graduate of economics who worked in the banking sector all his life to the point of becoming the managing director of a first generation bank, could not differentiate between a forensic audit and a financial process review because he was, as usual, clouded by hate and deep animus for the PDP and Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
“To bring home the fact, the touted report is titled Provision of Process Review Services, not forensic audit report and the Restriction on Distribution of the Report page, states clearly “This final report is intended for the use of Abia State Government (“ABSG”) and should not be used for any other purposes,” the party said.
The statement while further reviewing the document, added: “On Page 16 of the financial process review document, KPMG stated in the Nature of Assignment, that:
*a*. This assignment was not performed by us in the capacity of a statutory auditor. Hence,
this is not any form of financial statements audit of ABSG or any entity listed in the
report. We are therefore not required to render an opinion on the financial statements of ABSG or any entity listed in the report.
*b*. Rather, we have performed the procedures we considered appropriate in the circumstances and in line with relevant KPMG methodology.
*c*. We were also not required to review the adequacy or otherwise of the output of the prior
or current external auditors and/or consultants of ABSG, and did not perform any of the
following:
*i*. Conduct a trial and/or inquiry in the course of the assignment.
*ii*. Act as a tribunal, commission of inquiry or in judicial or quasi-judicial role.
*iii*. Perform, any adjudicatory function whatsoever in the course of the assignment.
*iv*. Conduct any exercise with a view to determining whether any person was guilty or innocent of any offence
“From the foregoing, it is evident to discerning minds that KPMG stated very clearly that it did not conduct an audit, much less, forensic. Transparency and accountability are fundamental principles that underpin good governance and public confidence in the audit process.
“Unfortunately, the operatives of Alex Otti government have continued to anchor their indictment on the N10b payment which Ferotex, the same contractor Alex Otti is still using, made to 32 other contractors. Thankfully, the operatives of the former government have offered explanations to that and so Alex Otti has nothing to say again.
“Like a drowning man who is looking for even a straw to hold onto, Alex Otti keeps making reference to the N10b which he cannot prove. The refusal to allow independent scrutiny of the report suggests a lack of commitment to upholding professional standards and ethical guidelines and PDP demands that Alex Otti make public the cost of the financial process review.
“The decision by KPMG to prevent public disclosure and review of the report lends credence to the fact that the exercise, for which Alex Otti made a mountain out of a molehill, was after all, just an opportunity to spite the PDP and Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu and this goes against the principles of openness, transparency, accountability and good governance. It is essential for the Abia state government to ensure that all audit processes are conducted with utmost transparency and that findings are subject to independent verification to maintain public trust.
“The people of Abia deserve to know the truth about any potential financial irregularities or misconduct uncovered by any audit and we urge the authorities to prioritise transparency and accountability in all matters related to governance and financial management. Fortuitously, the process review report indictated that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu left N3.4b in the coffers of the State, contrary to dubious claims by Alex Otti that he met an empty treasury on assumption of office.
“It is clear to Abians who has been lying to them, between Alex Otti and Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu. The Abia PDP calls on Alex Otti to render a public apology to Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu for smearing his name, especially in an international arena, to Abians for misleading and lying to them serially that a forensic audit was conducted with their funds when it was a mere financial process review meant to improve the efficiency of government operations.
“We also call on the good and well meaning people of Abia State to disregard Alex Otti’s recourse to hate and witch hunt and demand from him the good governance which he consistently promised Abians in over eight years as an opposition figure. Governance should be placed above politics for it to make sense.”
“Nothing must happen to Peter Obi. An injury to one is an injury to all. When one opposition leader is intimidated, every opposition voice is diminished,” came the immediate reaction of Atiku Abubakar candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in the 2027 presidential election on Thursday.
It was a day Atiku, who came second in the 2023 election and Obi, third, in the declaration made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), also asked for the release of Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna, warning that democracy is threatened when opposition figures are intimidated.
Obi, Governor of Anambra State between 2006 to 2014, had accused the federal government of deliberately frustrating his means of livelihood and targeting opposition figures, while appearing on #WithChude podcast, a programme hosted by Chude Jidonwo, a popular Nigerian social media host.
On the same Tuesday, Obi’s outing broke on social media, where he claimed that the way the Tinubu government was pursuing him, he was not sure of making it to the 2027 election alive, the family of the former Kaduna State Governor, also came publicly to describe stark details of what the family head, currently in detention since February this year, has been facing.
Conveying his distaste on the two situations through, Phrank Shaibu, his spokesman, Atiku, Nigeria’s Vice President between 1999 and 2007, added: “When one citizen begins to fear because of his political beliefs, democracy itself becomes the casualty.”
In a quick riposte to the scant regard, Aso Rock seemed to have placed on Obi’s fears, the former VP, said: “The Presidency must understand that democratic leadership demands composure, not contempt. When a citizen, particularly an opposition figure, voices concerns about the state of the nation or his personal safety, the first duty of government is to reassure through statesmanship, facts and responsible conduct—not through insults.
“Democracies are strengthened by reasoned engagement, not by invective. A government that answers every criticism with abuse projects insecurity, not confidence. The opposition is not the enemy of Nigeria.
“Poverty is the enemy. Hunger is the enemy. Insecurity is the enemy. Corruption is the enemy. Kidnapping is the enemy. The daily bloodletting across our communities is the enemy. A government that devotes more energy to attacking its critics than confronting these existential challenges has confused political survival with the purpose of governance. There are schoolchildren and teachers still waiting to be reunited with their families. There are countless innocent Nigerians languishing in the camps of kidnappers,” he said.
“These are the emergencies that deserve the full machinery of government—not endless political sparring with opposition figures. The Federal Government must devote the same urgency it applies to political communication to rescuing kidnapped Nigerians and restoring public confidence in national security.”
Regarding the plight of el-Rufai, Atiku stated: “The continued detention of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has generated widespread public concern. Every Nigerian, irrespective of political affiliation, is entitled to due process, equal protection under the law and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court. Justice must never create the appearance of selective application.
“Public confidence is not restored through insults or propaganda. It is restored through openness, accountability and the courage to answer legitimate questions,” he said.
“Governments earn trust by confronting controversy with facts, strengthening institutions and demonstrating that no one is above scrutiny. Our elders say: ‘When the drums of injustice beat for your neighbour, do not dance, for tomorrow they may beat for you. Every Nigerian, regardless of political affiliation, has a stake in defending the democratic space. Release Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
“Bring home every abducted schoolchild, every teacher and every innocent Nigerian still languishing in the hands of kidnappers.
“Stop chasing political opponents and start confronting the crises that are bleeding our nation. History will not remember how fiercely a government fought its critics.
“It will remember whether it protected its citizens, upheld justice, rescued the vulnerable and preserved the democracy entrusted to its care.”
“They apologised to me privately. I said they should put it on social media. They said they will not put it on social media, it will affect their credibility, because it’s not just them, but their other programmers at the Al Jazeera network too.”
These were the words of Daniel Bwala, while giving further insight into what has transpired along the line since his controversial interview with Mehdi Hasan of Al Jazeera, a global television network in March 2026, stating that the station privately apologised to him.
Bwala, who appeared on The Morayo Show, a private talk-show programme, hosted by Morayo Afolabi-Brown, a popular television presenter, however said because both Mehdi and Al Jazeera, refused to make the apology public, he was prompted him to instruct his lawyers in England to sue for defamation.
Clips on the controversial outing in which Bwala, spokesman for the campaign of Atiku Abubakar during his presidential bid in 2023, were in the public domain for several weeks after where a groundswell of commentators believed his performance was not only underwhelming, but he was outrightly disgraced.
He added: “The substance of the apology was that they should have told me that part of what they discussed with me was a talking point, that they were also going to interrogate me on my credibility for supporting the person I had attacked before.
“By their own ethics, they ought to have told me that, but they said they were sorry they didn’t. If you’re bold, if you call yourself a journalist, a fact-checker, you run your programme live and let people judge live.
“If you’re thinking straight, that’s what you’d do. You took creative control of the programme. You made a recorded programme. Ethics demanded you publish it exactly as it was recorded.”
Informing that the programme ran for one hour and 30 minutes but Al Jazeera published only 49 minutes, he accused the network of skewing the footage in Hasan’s favour, adding: “The deeper point is that they cut out the parts where I was fact-checking him and the crowd was clapping for me, and instead kept the parts where he was speaking and people were clapping for him. He’d ask me a question, I’d deny it, then he’d play the old clip. We call that ‘cut and joined’ in media. After doing that, which amounts to a smear campaign, he didn’t give me the chance to react to it.
“Instead, he let it appear that I was simply asked a question, denied it, was shown the clip, denied it again, was shown another clip, and denied it again. He removed that part, because if he’d left it in, anyone watching would understand that I had already answered the question upfront, and that my later denials were a response to his repeated bringing it up. That’s where the unethical conduct of a professional issue arose.
“When they apologised, I said no, put it on social media. They refused. So, I instructed my lawyers in England to go to court. The case is currently in court. Because my advisers in England said it’s defamation of character.”
More successes are being recorded by Nigerian forces trying to rout out terrorist in parts of the country, with emerging reports indicating that the perpetrators are currently running scared from the hot onslaughts they are getting from the operatives.
Channels Television, is quoting military authorities at the Operation Hadin kai (OPHK) conducting military blitzkrieg against the terrorists in the North East as saying that the troops received six Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), one of the major terrorist groups operating in the area, who surrendered alongside their families, at the 192 Battalion (Main) Sector 1 of the body.
Quoting a statement on Wednesday by Mohammed Goni, spokesman of the military operation, with headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State, the report, said that among the items recovered from the terrorists and their families included a cumulative sum of more than N1.5 million, two Tecno mobile phones, and other items.
Th statement, added that troops of 115 Task Force Battalion, while conducting ongoing search and rescue operations in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, on July 7, rescued two additional abductees from a terrorist hideout, where they also recovered cash of N1.2 million suspected to be proceeds of criminal activities, food items, and other logistics believed to have supported terrorist operations.
The rescued victims have since been evacuated to a secure location where they are receiving appropriate medical care and psychosocial support, the report said, adding that during the same period, the troops noted that it contained a coordinated attack by ISWAP terrorists in Borno, and one of the soldiers was killed.
“Although the insurgents briefly exploited a section of the base’s defensive perimeter during the intense firefight, the troops rapidly regrouped, mounted a determined counter-offensive and decisively expelled the attackers, inflicting significant casualties and forcing the surviving terrorists to flee with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.
“Regrettably, one gallant soldier paid the supreme price, while two gun-trucks and some combat enablers sustained damage during the engagement. The situation at FOB Logomani remains firmly under the control of Operation HADIN KAI troops, with reinforcements deployed, exploitation operations ongoing and additional measures being implemented to further strengthen the defensive resilience of the location.”
Detailing how troops of 232 Battalion apprehended a notorious criminal in Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State, the statement, said: “Follow-up exploitation of the arrest led to the recovery of one AK-47 rifle, two magazines, and twenty-eight rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.
“The suspect and recovered items are currently in military custody, while further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend other members of the criminal network.”
Similarly, the statement said troops of the 149 Battalion arrested two suspected terrorist logistics suppliers in the Mobbar Local Government Area of Borno State.
The recovered items include cash sums, a Volkswagen Golf vehicle, construction materials, household items, and other supplies suspected to have been destined for terrorist elements.
The suspects are currently undergoing interrogation, while the recovered items remain in military custody as investigations continue.
As part of ongoing offensive operations, troops of 24 Task Force Brigade, in conjunction with members of the Civilian Joint Task Force, conducted a clearance operation on known terrorist enclaves around Wulgo.
During the operation, the troops said they exploited the terrorists’ hasty withdrawal and recovered a sack containing assorted illicit drugs abandoned by the fleeing insurgents.
“The recovery further underscores the sustained pressure being mounted on terrorist elements, denying them freedom of movement and disrupting their operational capabilities.”
Relatedly, the troops apprehended a suspected BHT/ISWAP logistics supplier at the Molai checkpoint in possession of large quantities of medical supplies without due clearance. The suspect and items recovered are in custody for further interrogation.
Again, in Sector 2 Area of Responsibility, Troops of 233 Tank Battalion, in conjunction with local hunters, intercepted and arrested a suspected BHT/ISWAP terrorist logistics supplier from Ngirya village of Tarmuwa LGA with five motorcycle tires. The suspect and items are in military custody for investigation.
“These latest operational gains underscore the effectiveness of sustained offensive operations, actionable intelligence and the seamless collaboration among security agencies and auxiliary forces in dismantling terrorist logistics networks, disrupting criminal activities and protecting vulnerable communities across the North East”, the statement added.
Headquarters Operation HADIN KAI assured the public that ongoing search and rescue operations will continue with unwavering resolve until every abducted person is accounted for and safely reunited with their families.
“The Theatre Command also issues a stern warning to individuals involved in supplying food, fuel, construction materials, transportation or any other form of logistics to terrorist groups to immediately desist. Anyone found aiding, abetting or collaborating with terrorist elements, directly or indirectly, will be identified, apprehended and prosecuted in accordance with the law.”
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