The recent inauguration of Geometric Power in Osisioma, Abia State, by President Bola Tinubu has sparked a heated verbal dispute between supporters of former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and those of the current Governor, Alex Otti.
Aides and close allies of the former governor alleged that Okezie Ikpeazu obtained a 5% stake in Geometrics Power on behalf of the Abia State government, leading to the conflict.
The Ikpeazu faction claims that during the tenure of the former governor from Obingwa, the Abia State government acquired a 5% stake in Geometrics worth $5 million, with around $3.6 million already paid, making up about 71% of the total amount.
The Ikpeazu faction criticized both the Abia State government and Geometrics Chairman, Professor Barth Nnaji, for supposedly not recognizing the contributions of Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration to the power project during his time in office, arguing that the investment was funded by the people of Abia and should be protected.
However, media aides to Governor Alex Otti disputed the claims made by the Ikpeazu camp regarding investments in Geometrics, stating that no documentation of such investments was handed over 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 claimed that the former governor used both past and current aides to criticize the current administration in the State. He stated that the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was jealous of Governor Alex Otti’s achievements in the Geometric power project.
Ekeoma criticized the former administration and aides of the former Governor, accusing them of engaging in “primitive propaganda and rehearsed image laundering” for their leader.
Meanwhile, Governor Otti addressed the ongoing media debates about the Abia State government’s reported 5% investment in the Geometric power project during an interview with Channels TV last week.
When asked about Okezie Ikpeazu’s contributions to the Geometric project, Governor Otti admitted it was difficult to provide details but mentioned that Ikpeazu had traveled with the Geometric management team to South Africa in either 2018 or 2019 to finalize a loan agreement of around $50 million. Part of this loan 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 stated that he did not have any information about the alleged 5% investment. He emphasized that neither he nor his office had received any documentation about the matter. He assigned his Commissioner for Finance and the Accountant General to look into the claim. He suggested that Geometric should provide more specific details.
