Abia: Group queries Otti’s contract sum for 6-km Aba-Port Harcourt road

A group, the Abia Collective has urged President Bola Tinubu not to allow himself to be connected with ongoing alleged fraudulent activities being carried out by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, especially the Aba-Port Harcourt road project.

In a statement issued in Umuahia, the state capital, signed by the National Coordinator, Mazi Ken Orji Okoye, the group queried the contract sum for the Aba-Port Harcourt road being carried out by the state government.

According to Okoye, the project set to be inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu is a drain pipe on the resources of the state.

To this end, the group has urged President Tinubu not honoru the invitation for the inauguration of the road, saying that doing so would amount to giving support to alleged fraudulent practices which is contrary to the philosophy of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“We have appraised the information emanating from the Government of Abia State with respect to the ongoing Aba-Port Harcourt road and we have come to the conclusion that it is a drain pipe on the resources of our dear state.

“For us, it is a drain pipe because of the humongous price tag considering the fact that the state government is committing the sum of over N36 billion on a road of just six kilometers.

“Perhaps, the state government needs to come out and explain the contract specifications with regards to the materials that are being used for the actualisation of the project.

“Even at that, we, members of the Abia Collective, still find it hard to comprehend how a six kilometer road project would gulp the sum of N36 billion,” the group said.

Okoye therefore, urged President Tinubu to ignore the invitation of the state government to inaugurate the road, saying doing otherwise would amount to the president giving his tacit support to official graft.