ABIA DEBT CONTROVERSY: WHEN EXCHANGE RATE IS DRESSED UP AS SCANDAL
Let us be honest: this argument is trying to mix debt repayment, external debt stock, exchange-rate depreciation, and gratuity arrears into one pot of confusion.
The DMO figure does not support the claim that Abia State has been lying. It supports the fact that Abia’s domestic debt has crashed heavily under Governor Alex Otti.
As at June 30, 2023, Abia’s domestic debt stood at ₦142.47 billion. By December 31, 2025, the same DMO placed Abia’s domestic debt at ₦48.41 billion. That is a reduction of about ₦94.06 billion in domestic debt. That is not propaganda; that is DMO data.
Now, the mischief begins when someone takes Abia’s external debt, converts it with today’s battered exchange rate, and pretends that Governor Otti newly borrowed that naira equivalent. That is intellectually dishonest. External debt is recorded in dollars. If the naira collapses from around ₦460/$ to ₦1,350/$, the naira value of the same dollar debt will rise even when the actual dollar debt barely moves.
Yes, Abia’s external debt moved from $101.48 million in December 2024 to $107.16 million in December 2025, a difference of about $5.69 million. But that is not the same thing as saying Abia borrowed ₦144 billion. The DMO table clearly reports Abia’s external debt in USD, not in naira.
Even if we go back to June 2023, Abia’s external debt was $92.33 million. By December 2025, it was $107.16 million. That is an increase of about $14.83 million over the period, while domestic debt fell by over ₦94 billion. So where is the “fraudulent manipulation”? The bigger picture still favours debt reduction, not debt explosion.
The critic is also mixing up gratuity arrears with DMO public debt stock. Gratuity is a real obligation and must be paid, but it is not the same category as domestic debt reported by DMO. You cannot drag gratuity into DMO debt stock only when it suits political anger.
So the plain truth is this:
Governor Otti’s administration inherited a heavy domestic debt burden and has brought it down substantially. Those who want to attack him should attack with clean figures, not exchange-rate gymnastics.
You cannot convert dollar debt with Tinubu’s exchange rate tragedy and then accuse Otti of borrowing the naira equivalent. That one is not analysis; that is political arithmetic with a hangover.
Ndi Abia are not fools. But they are also not children to be deceived by people who know the difference between new borrowing and currency revaluation but deliberately pretend not to know.
The DMO data does not disgrace Otti. It disgraces the argument against him.
