Abia’s Finances on Trial: Evidence vs Viral Arithmetic
An Investigative Rebuttal Built on Records, Not Rhetoric
By AProf. Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
Big numbers are easy to shout. Hard numbers are harder to classify.
Over the past weeks, Abia State’s finances have been tried — not in court, not by auditors, not by fiscal institutions — but by livestream arithmetic. Hundreds of billions were cited, conclusions were declared, and verdicts were delivered in broadcast tempo. But public finance is not judged by tempo. It is judged by method.
Let us proceed the proper way: admit evidence, test classification, verify sources, and separate tiers of government finance before drawing conclusions.
The first exhibit is revenue itself. Claims about “₦410 billion received by Abia LGAs” are not secrets, not leaks, and not propaganda. They are verifiable through the National Bureau of Statistics FAAC disbursement datasets, publicly downloadable:
NBS FAAC Portal:
https://microdata.nigerianstat.gov.ng/index.php/catalog/156
Sample FAAC workbook:
https://microdata.nigerianstat.gov.ng/index.php/catalog/156/download/1125/FAAC_Disbursement_August_2024.xlsx
These are federal records. They establish inflow — not misuse.
But here is where viral arithmetic fails its first audit test. Government Finance Statistics — under IMF fiscal doctrine — forbids lumping State FAAC, Local Government FAAC, federal projects, and agency funds into one emotional headline figure. That violates classification rules before performance is even discussed.
IMF Fiscal Transparency Code makes tier separation and functional classification mandatory in fiscal judgment:
https://www.imf.org/external/np/fad/trans/code.htm
The World Bank Public Financial Management framework reinforces the same logic: budgets are judged on payroll stability, arrears control, procurement discipline, and service delivery — not headline totals:
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/governance/brief/public-financial-management
Apply those standards, and the spectacle begins to look like a spreadsheet — and spreadsheets are less dramatic but more truthful.
Consider payroll and arrears. Under global PFM benchmarks, clearing salary backlogs, stabilizing wage payments, and reducing pension delays are first-tier reform indicators. They are not glamorous. They are foundational. Governments collapse when payroll collapses.
The power sector offers another test of evidence. Restoration of electricity to long-dark communities in Abia’s oil-producing belt was independently reported — not merely announced:
Premium Times field report:
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/845034-abia-govt-restores-power-to-33-communities-after-nine-years-of-outage.html
Vanguard confirmation report:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/12/otti-restores-power-supply-in-abias-only-oil-producing-lga-after-nine-years-of-blackout/
That is not studio narration. That is field verification.
Healthcare reform has also drawn institutional — not partisan — acknowledgment. A House of Representatives oversight committee publicly commended Abia’s healthcare delivery direction:
Punch Newspapers report:
https://punchng.com/reps-committee-lauds-abia-govs-strides-in-healthcare-delivery/
Under WHO system standards, workforce expansion and primary care activation are core reform metrics:
https://www.who.int/teams/health-workforce
Digital governance — often mocked because it lacks ribbon-cutting optics — is classified by the United Nations as Stage-One transformation. No government digitizes services without first digitizing backbone systems:
UN e-Government framework:
https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Data
Another broadcast claim indicts the State Governor for all Local Government outcomes. That ignores constitutional fiscal structure. LGAs receive allocations and hold capital execution authority. International decentralization doctrine — including UNDP governance guidance — assigns local delivery responsibility primarily to local authorities:
https://www.undp.org/topic/democratic-governance
Then comes the most abused figure game of all: nominal naira comparison across years. Comparing ₦90bn years ago to ₦410bn today without exchange rate and inflation adjustment is not analysis — it is illusion. Nigeria’s macro environment — currency depreciation and inflation — has dramatically altered purchasing power. Same naira, different value. Serious financial comparison requires FX and inflation context.
Criticism remains welcome. Debate remains healthy. But method matters. Classification matters. Standards matter.
We therefore say this without anger and without apology: we wish every content creator the best in their broadcasts. But governance is not content creation. Governance is record creation.
A full documentary, audit-aligned fiscal response — with tier-separated revenue tables, expenditure ratios, and sector metrics — will follow.
Because while noise travels fast, records travel far.
