The Abia State Government has hit back at the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, over his recent comments criticizing Governor Alex Otti’s administration, describing his remarks as “ignorant, misleading, and politically motivated.”
In a strongly worded statement issued on Monday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, the government said Kalu’s comments were “spurious and embarrassing,” accusing him of making “infantile comparisons” between Governor Otti and his predecessors, while displaying a “deep-rooted deficiency in economic and financial knowledge.”
“Abia’s year-to-date FAAC allocation for 2025, including local governments, stands at ₦125 billion. If we were to go by Kalu’s false claim of ₦38 billion monthly, the figure would have been ₦304 billion,” Ekeoma said. “Should a Deputy Speaker of the Federal Legislature be associated with such barefaced lies?”
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The statement explained that the current economic realities have drastically changed due to the devaluation of the naira, which has significantly affected the real value of funds available to states.
“As at April 2023, a few days before Governor Otti assumed office, the exchange rate was ₦460 to a dollar. Today, it’s around ₦1,500. What this means is that ₦3.2 billion today is equivalent to ₦1 billion in 2023,” Ekeoma stated. “A project that cost ₦1 billion in 2022 now costs close to ₦4 billion. Kalu clearly lacks this understanding.”
Highlighting key achievements under Governor Otti, Ekeoma said the administration had increased the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to between ₦70,000 and ₦74,000, while also expanding the verified number of state workers from 31,000 to over 67,000.
“Thousands of workers who were previously oppressed and excluded from the payroll have now been recognized and paid. Kalu never spoke up when this injustice was being done to his constituents,” the statement read.
Ekeoma also accused the Deputy Speaker of political hypocrisy, alleging that his recent outburst was driven by personal ambition ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
“If Kalu wasn’t a traitor, he would have mentioned the administration of his former boss, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who received less allocation than his successors,” Ekeoma said. “He has been enabling a coordinated media attack against this government while pretending to be loyal to President Bola Tinubu. But President Tinubu knows traitors when he sees them.”
The Governor’s media aide further mocked Kalu’s recent appearance at a political event in Aba, where he reportedly criticized Lagos demolitions, describing it as a publicity stunt.
“He waited for a public event to ‘advise’ Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, when he could have done so quietly if his intentions were genuine,” Ekeoma said. “Kalu should not overtrouble himself over what he saw in Aba; that massive crowd was not hired. They are the real beneficiaries of good governance.”
Concluding, Ekeoma urged Kalu to focus on his duties in the National Assembly and avoid misleading the public with false economic claims.
“We advise him to take a cold drink, relax, and wait for the right time to declare his governorship ambition,” Ekeoma said. “To take on this government on figures, one must first be financially literate.”