Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Prince Paul Ikonne, has called on Abians to remain vigilant and continuously hold the administration of Governor Alex Otti, accountable over what he described as persistent financial inconsistencies and lack of transparency.

Ikonne made the call while speaking on a monitored radio programme on Monday in Abuja, where he expressed concern over the inclusion of ₦210 million in the Abia State budget allegedly earmarked for the purchase of a photocopier—an item the state government has since described as a “typographical error.”

Reacting to the explanation by the Abia State Ministry of Budget and Planning, which dismissed reports that ₦250 million was budgeted for a photocopier at the Lagos Liaison Office as misleading and the result of a formatting error in the 2026 budget document, Ikonne said the explanation was troubling.

According to him, it was alarming that an administration led by a governor with a background in banking and finance would repeatedly commit such “grave errors” in official financial documents.

“This is exactly how Abia money is written off. If Abians had not paid attention and raised questions, this huge sum would have quietly disappeared,” Ikonne stated. He questioned how a government that prides itself on technocratic competence could be making what he described as random and costly mistakes, recalling a previous incident in which about ₦1.2 billion was reportedly explained away as a typographical error in a budgetary provision for the purchase of Hilux vehicles.

Ikonne warned that other questionable figures in the budget may have gone unnoticed during the two and a half years of Governor Otti’s administration, suggesting that the controversy may only reveal a fraction of deeper financial irregularities.

“The Otti administration is fast gaining notoriety for financial inconsistencies, padding and attempts to siphon the common patrimony of Ndi Abia under the guise of errors,” he alleged.

He further queried how figures such as ₦210 million and ₦12 million could be confused, arguing that even ₦12 million would be excessive for a photocopier. Drawing comparisons, Ikonne noted that business centres along Pound Road in Aba, which handle large volumes of documents daily, do not operate photocopying machines anywhere near that cost, let alone a government liaison office.

He accused the state government of insensitivity in managing Abia’s resources, particularly at a time when the state is receiving increased allocations from the Federal Government following the fiscal policies of President Bola Tinubu.

The APC chieftain also questioned how the discrepancies would be reconciled, given that the budget had already been presented and passed, with implementation reportedly underway. Ikonne further raised concerns over major projects allegedly funded with large sums, including claims that about ₦100 billion had been spent on smart schools that are yet to be seen, as well as a ₦7 billion recreational centre, which he described as existing largely on social media.