You lied, I did not leave behind N35bn debt- Orji
The immediate past governor of Abia State and Senator representing Abia Central senatorial zone in the Senate, Theodore Orji, has debunked claims that he left a huge debt burden of N35bn, while serving as governing of the state.
His predecessor, a former governor of the State, Orji Uzor Kalu, had alleged that Orji misappropriated the State funds and was also owing civil servants salaries which amounted to millions.
But Orji in a statement signed by his media aide, Eddie Onuzuruike, charged whoever care to know how finances were dispelled under his administrative to confirmed from the Abia State Ministry of Finance and Accountant Generals office.
He said that when he was sworn into office as governor in May, 2007, his first responsibility was to liquidate the arrears of salaries and pensions owed civil servants.
According to him, he put in place an unprecedented promotion of all civil servants to the next salary grade level mostly to assuage the plight of civil servants and eliminate the menace of ghosts workers which was the trend with the past administration.
“Many sweeping changes were made as time went on including adopting special salary structures of some professional bodies like teachers and health workers.
“The allegations Orji Uzor Kalu made about Abia State University were blatant lies. When Senator Orji took up the saddle of governance, Abia University was in a state of rot with low subventions, disaccredited departments like Architecture and Medicine.
“But senator Orji raised the subvention of Abia State University from 60 million to one hundred million and reaccredited more than five departments.” the statement added.
The statement also denied some newspaper reports that the Federal Lawmaker was booed at the burial ceremony, saying that nothing of such ever happened at the event attended by prominent Nigerians.
“To put the facts straight, Senator Orji was hilariously welcomed by many across the burial arena. A few minutes after arrival he was received and urged to make his speech after his predecessor,” Onuzuruike added.
