WHEN FACTS ARE PUBLIC AND FREE, IGNORANCE BECOMES A CHOICE
A Rebuttal to Oracle’s Misleading Take on Abia’s 2025–2026 Budgets
It would be a great disservice to Abia State if Obinna Oriaku keeps quiet. Let him ventilate — because the loudest voices in the room are often the least informed, and silence allows falsehood to ferment into public opinion. When critics choose conjecture over documentation, it is our civic duty to respond firmly, clearly and factually.
This rejoinder is not written to praise the government. It is written to defend truth.
- The Writer Built His Attack on a Budget That Never Existed
The critic repeatedly anchors his outrage on this claim:
“82% of the 2025 budget + additional ₦150bn = ₦738.28bn… out of a ₦900.28bn budget.”
This construction exists nowhere in official records. What the law and independent media actually reported is clear:
On 10 December 2024, Premium Times wrote:
“Mr Otti presented a budget estimate of N750 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.”
— Premium Times, 10 Dec 2024
The capital–recurrent structure was also explicitly stated:
“N611.7bn, representing 82% of the budget, is for capital expenditure; N138.6bn (18%) for recurrent.”
— Premium Times, 10 Dec 2024
On 28 December 2024, the same newspaper reported:
“Mr Otti… assented to the 2025 budget of N750 billion.”
— Premium Times, 28 Dec 2024
There is no ₦900.28bn budget and no ₦738.28bn capital spend anywhere in the appropriation law or legislative documents. They simply do not exist.
Once his fictional arithmetic collapses, the entire rhetorical drama around “where are the megaprojects for ₦738bn?” collapses with it.
- Claims of “No Accountability, No Breakdown, No Documentation” Are False
The writer boldly asserts:
“Otti cannot substantiate his claims without audited capital budget performance… detailed costs… procurement records.”
This sounds authoritative — until one checks the public record.
The Abia State Government publishes quarterly budget performance reports— including capital disbursements by MDA and project code.
The Q3 Budget Performance Report states:
“This Report is prepared quarterly and issued within four weeks from the end of each quarter.”
— Abia State Q3 Budget Performance Report (public document)
Budget performance reports for multiple quarters in 2024 and 2025 are publicly available on civic platforms and state portals.
Demanding a full-year audited capital account in November of the same year is not scrutiny; it is either ignorance of public finance timelines or deliberate mischief. No Nigerian state publishes audited full-year accounts before the fiscal year ends.
- Independent Watchdogs, Not Government, Contradict the Writer
The critic’s central accusation is that Otti’s budgets “failed the most basic tests of transparency, logic, and physical evidence.”
But BudgIT — Nigeria’s leading fiscal transparency watchdog — says the opposite.
On 6 November 2025, Vanguard summarised BudgIT’s 2025 State of States ranking:
“Abia State delivered one of the most transformational fiscal stories… dedicating an unmatched 77% of total expenditure to capital projects.”
— Vanguard, 6 Nov 2025
The same report notes:
“Abia ranked 4th overall in fiscal performance and No.1 in capital project prioritization.”
— Vanguard, 6 Nov 2025
These are independent auditors, not Government House praise-singers.
To insist there is “no transparency” when the most credible fiscal evaluator in Nigeria says Abia is among the best-performing states is either willful blindness or political theatre.
- On the 600km Roads Claim — It Is Documented, Whether the Writer Likes It or Not
The critic mocks Otti for claiming completion of 600km of roads:
“Abeg where? Tales by moonlight.”
But national newspapers disagree.
NATION, reporting on the 2026 budget presentation, wrote:
“Otti announced that over 600km of roads have been built or rehabilitated since 2023.”
— The Nation, 10 Jan 2026
Business Hilights also summarised the same official figure:
“600km of roads… upgrades to over 200 primary healthcare centres…”
— Business Hilights, 12 Jan 2026
One may contest the quality, the prioritization, or the completion timelines — all legitimate debates.
But to dismiss a documented figure repeated by multiple independent national outlets as “fiction” is unserious.
Facts are stubborn things.
- On IGR: Ambitious? Yes. Imaginary? No.
The writer claims:
“IGR of ₦223bn is economically unrealistic and deceitful.”
But again, the record disagrees.
During the 2026 budget presentation, ThisDay reported:
“IGR projection for 2026 is N223.4bn, up from N120bn in 2025.”
— ThisDay, 11 Jan 2026
Later in the same speech, Otti stated:
“Internally generated revenue is projected to hit N100bn by year-end.”
— ThisDay, 11 Jan 2026
So the growth trajectory is already underway — documented, not imagined.
Even BudgIT confirms significant revenue expansion:
“Abia recorded one of the sharpest positive fiscal shifts in 2025.”
— Vanguard summarising BudgIT, 6 Nov 2025
It is fair to debate whether Abia can achieve ₦223bn.
It is dishonest to insist the figure came from “thin air.”
Ambition is not deceit.
- On Debt and Deficit: The Numbers Are Public, Not Hidden
The critic claims deception:
“Otti avoided mentioning Abia’s debt… avoided disclosure…”
But Premium Times covered the debt component explicitly:
“The deficit of N409bn (40%) will be funded through concessionary loans strictly for capital projects.”
— Premium Times, 10 Jan 2026
So where is the concealment?
Even the Debt Management Office (DMO) provides the figures:
“Abia’s domestic debt stood at ₦48.7bn as of March 31, 2025.”
— DMO Quarterly Debt Report, April 2025
The critic’s suggestion that Otti is hiding debt is simply not supported by publicly available federal records.
- Yes, Let’s Criticise — But Based on Reality, Not Invention
No one is saying Abia’s government is flawless.
Legitimate concerns remain:
project implementation must be faster
procurement transparency can improve
the IGR base must be broadened sustainably
debt must be managed prudently
These are valid issues.
But criticism must stand on truth, not fiction.
When one builds an argument on invented figures, denies documented evidence, ignores watchdog reports, and amplifies only what fits a pre-written conclusion, it becomes propaganda — not analysis.
Conclusion: Abia Deserves Honest Debate, Not Manufactured Outrage
Obinna Oriaku has a duty to speak — because silence leaves the public at the mercy of loud distortions.
Abia is not perfect, but it is changing.
And that change must be debated with facts, not folk tales.
As the late Chinua Achebe taught:
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
Let us insist on that integrity — in governance, and in criticism.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
