Former Governor of Abia State and Senatorial Candidate of the Progressive Peoples Allaince(PPA) in the March 28 2015 Senatorial Election for Abia North Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has accused the current Governor of the state Dr Okezie Ikpeazu of always setting aside N35Million as Travel Allowance on a trip to Lagos or Abuja
Kalu had during a private visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, accused some serving governors of squandering their states’ funds on personal luxury.
He linked the governors’ reported inability to pay workers’ salaries to their alleged financial recklessness.
According to him, the governors spend N35 million on travelling allowance, saying that unless they stopped tampering with security vote for personal use, their states wouldn’t develop.
But, in an exclusive interview with The AUTHORITY Newspapers in Umuahia, Governor Ikpeazu, through his Personal Assistant, Mr. Enyinnaya Apollos, expressed shock that Kalu, “who was squandering money while in office,” could make such an allegation.
He said: “Kalu should tell Abians how he bought his aircraft because he never owned them before becoming governor of the state.”
The governor, who vehemently denied ever collecting N35 million as travel allowance to Abuja or anywhere else explained that what he collects as allowance on any trip to Abuja or Lagos is N4 million.
He said no governor would be so callous and insensitive to waste the meagre resources of his state on travels, particularly in the face of dwindling revenue and economic crisis.
The Abia chief executive added that he only travels on chartered aircraft when it becomes extremely necessary, stressing that it costs between N3.5 million and N4 million to charter an aircraft to Abuja.
His words: “The governor has brought down his travel allowance by 50 percent; that means he travels with N4 million.
“He also rarely goes by chartered aircraft except during emergencies. Ikpeazu stays in the business class which is around N35,000 but if it is not available, he stays in the economy class.
“He also does not travel with more than N5 million on any trip to Abuja or Lagos. In fact, in one instance, he had to travel with N2 million to Abuja. He does not need to spend money when he travels to Abuja because he does not stay in hotels but in the Abia Lodge.”
Ikpeazu said that as part of efforts to save cost, he “does not travel with more than five aides- Aide the Camp (ADC), Chief Detail, Personal Assistant, Police Orderly, and a Protocol officer, except on a special occasion.”
