On the day he was sacked as Abia Governor by the Court of Appeal, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu presented a N96.7 billion budget for 2016 to the state House of Assembly for approval.
Ikpeazu insists he remains governor despite the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, nullifying his election and declaring Dr. Alex Otti as the validly elected candidate for the April 11, 2015 election.
Speaking in Umuahia on Thursday during the presentation, Ikpeazu said the budget was 22.8 per cent less than the 2015 budget of N102.4 billion.
The governor said the 2016 budget was anchored on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards.
“Our capital expenditure is proposed to be N37.8 billion, while the recurrent expenditure will be N58.9 billion,” the governor said.
Ikpeazu said that “in meeting the demands of the budget, we do not desire to compound the problems of the good people of Abia”.
He said the state government would apply prudent utilisation of available resources to achieve economic development, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and quality governance.
The governor said the state government would not rely solely on federal allocation but had determined to increase its Internally Generated Revenue.
Ikpeazu said the government was poised to increase its IGR by exploring the benefits of public-private partnership, creation of conducive environment for increased commercial activities and foreign investment.
Receiving the budget, the Speaker, Chief Martins Azubuike, told the governor that the House would give accelerated consideration to the bill.
The Court of Appeal on Thursday said Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not validly elected and as such nullified his election.
The Court said Otti, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), won the larger number of votes from the election and as such declared him the winner.
However, Ikpeazu, in a special broadcast on Thursday, said: “I have just been informed that the Court of Appeal sitting at Owerri has nullified my victory as the duly-elected governor of Abia State and ordered that one of my opponents at the election, Dr. Alex Otti should be sworn in as the winner of the election.
“As of this moment, I have not received the full briefing on the reason for the decision of the Court of Appeal but my lawyers are still at the court waiting to obtain a copy of the judgement for further studying and it is past 7pm. The next four days are public holidays and the timing of the judgement means that we are losing valuable days to study the judgement and file our Appeal.
“I wish to state at this point that preliminary reports available to me indicate that the premise upon which the decision of the Court of Appeal was arrived at is at best tenuous.
“That being said, I wish to express my utmost confidence in the ability of the Justices of the Supreme Court to correct the anomaly at the Court of Appeal and uphold my victory as had been earlier done by the Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia.
“In the interim, while I have instructed my lawyers to take steps to file an immediate Appeal at the Supreme Court, I wish to assure all Abians that all is well. I remain the governor of Abia State until the Supreme Court reaffirms my mandate which was freely given to me by the good people of Abia State during the elections.
“I call on security agencies to maintain the peace in Abia State and ensure that people go about their legitimate businesses without fear of disruption from any quarters. I also call on our supporters to remain calm in the face of provocation.
“I remain supremely confident that at the end of the day, victory shall be ours. I thank you all for listening and wish you a prosperous 2016.”
