The recent commissioning of Geometric Power in Osisioma, Abia state, by President Bola Tinubu has ignited a fierce verbal confrontation between loyalists of former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and those of the current Governor, Alex Otti.
Truetells Nigeria reports that aides and close allies of the former governor claimed that Okezie Ikpeazu acquired a 5% stake in Geometrics Power on behalf of the Abia State government, leading to the clash.
The Ikpeazu faction asserts that during the administration of the former governor from Obingwa, the Abia State government secured a 5% stake in Geometrics valued at $5 million, with approximately $3.6 million already disbursed, constituting about 71% of the payment.
The Ikpeazu faction criticized both the Abia State government and Geometrics Chairman, Professor Barth Nnaji, for allegedly failing to acknowledge Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration’s contributions to the power project during his tenure, arguing that the investment was financed with Abia people’s funds and thus should be safeguarded.
However, the media aides to Governor Alex Otti refuted claims made by the Ikpeazu side regarding investments in Geometrics, stating that no documentation regarding such investments was transferred to the current administration by Ikpeazu.
Addressing the matter, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, said: “At this point, we do not have any document, any information.
“So, as long as we do not have any document, what it implies is that to the best of our knowledge, such does not exist.”
Ekeoma alleged that the former governor deployed both former and current aides to criticize the current administration in the State, asserting that the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), envied Governor Alex Otti’s accomplishments in the Geometric power project.
Ekeoma slammed the former administration and aides to the former Governor, accusing them of participating in “primitive propaganda and rehearsed image laundering” for their leader.
Meanwhile, Governor Otti addressed the issue of the ongoing media debates regarding the Abia State government’s reported 5% investment in the Geometric power project during an interview with Channels TV last week.
When questioned about Okezie Ikpeazu’s contributions to the Geometric project, Governor Otti admitted difficulty in providing details but recalled that Ikpeazu had travelled with the Geometric management team to South Africa in either 2018 or 2019 to finalize a loan agreement totalling approximately $50 million, a portion of which settled the dispute between Geometric and EEDC.
“But the records available to me do not show that the government guaranteed that loan. So, the loan was given at the back of the assets of Geometric,” Governor Otti stated.
The Governor clarified that he had no record of the purported 5% investment, emphasizing that neither he nor his office received any documentation regarding the matter; however, he tasked his Commissioner for Finance and the Accountant General with investigating the claim, suggesting that Geometric would be better suited to provide specific details.
