2,000 jostle for 771 state health sector vacancies 

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne, has challenged Governor Alex Otti to come clean by showing evidence of N54 billion utilised on the renovation of public schools in the state.
 
Otti had, last weekend, during his monthly media chat, dismissed claims that N54 billion is missing from the state treasury, describing those behind the allegations as mischievous and ignorant about government budgeting and spending processes.
 
Reacting to the governor’s claim, Ikonne wondered why a governor, who boasts of having “seasoned accountants” in his administration, would be contradicting himself “all in a bid to downplay a now national issue and the question on the lips of every Abian: where are the schools, and where is the N54 billion?”
 
Ikonne, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Dr Ujo Justice, reminded the governor that similar sums had been written off in the past without evidence, noting that about N18 billion was previously announced for school renovation with “nothing to show for it.”

Quoting Sahara Reporters, an online media report, recent findings, Ikonne said the governor’s dismissal of the N54 billion expenditure claim as a “mistake” is contradicted by official state budget performance documents. 

Meanwhile, following the approval by the Governor Alex Otti administration of Abia State to recruit 771 health professionals in the state, 1,983 have applied, while 1,348 from this number have been shortlisted for the Computer-Based Test (CBT) between August 26 and 30, 2025. Otti said that those who would make it through the test will be interviewed between September 2 and 16, 2025, before the final selection is made.
 
The state’s Civil Service Commission has advertised for contract consultants, primary consultants and medical officers, while the portal for applications would close by August 30, 2025.