Kalu Plunged Abia Into Debt – NBC boss

Chairman of the Na
tional Broadcasting Commission and member of the Board of Nigeria Stock Exchange, Prof. Herbert Orji, has alleged that a former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, left the state in serious debt at the end of his eight-year tenure.
In a statement made available to journalists in Umuahia on Thursday, the NBC boss alleged that the former governor left behind a staggering N55 billion deficit and bank loans, which he said could not be accounted for by his government.
Orji explained that when the state’s accounts were audited, “it was discovered that there was high scale mismanagement, which made it difficult for the present administration of Chief T.A. Orji to perform the miracle expected of it.”
He alleged that Kalu could not account for the N1.8 billion given to his government by Pension Office to pay Abians, who worked in federal institutions.
According to him, the said sum disappeared without any trace while the affected workers have not been paid till date.
The statement read in part, “The administration before T.A. Orji, I’m sorry to say this, did not quite get Abia right. However, when you are acquiring a company, you take both assets and liabilities- that was what T.A. took. There was N55 billion unaccounted for when we did the audit, and the previous administration had agreed that every month a certain amount had to be distributed to the 22 banks.
“We tried to review it but the Attorney General of the federation said we could not change it. Every month, at source, N1.5 billion was deducted to pay the banks. Also, we found out that N1.8 billion given by the Pension Office for Abia workers, who had worked in federal institutions, disappeared. So it became extremely difficult for Governor T.A. Orji to perform the magic.”
The elder statesman expressed surprise that despite the huge debt profile inherited by Orji, his administration had delivered a number of key projects in the state.
He noted that despite  1.5 billion thatwas deducted from the state’s monthly allocation from the federation account to service the 22 banks owed, Orji was able to complete “32 solid projects.”
He commended the governor for rehabilitating some federal roads in the state including Umuahia-Bende-Ohafia road and the Umuahia-Uzoakoli-Abaribe road.