It's an error - Alex Otti reacts to ₦1.5bn Hilux vans in Abia budget

Abia State Governor Alex Otti has reacted to the ₦1.5 billion earmarked for purchasing two units of Hilux vans in the state's 2024 budget.

Sometime last week, an online platform published a report detailing how the Abia State government budgeted ₦1.5 billion to purchase “two Toyota Hilux”.

As quoted in the report, the breakdown of the budget showed ₦5,946,756,437 was voted for the purchase of motor vehicles, ₦2,704,980,600 for the purchase of vans, ₦949,000,000 for the purchase of trucks, and ₦3,011,804,906 for the purchase of buses.

The report generated a heated discussion on social media as some Nigerians called out Otti for alleged budget padding with a sinister motive, while another section stood in the governor's defence and even questioned the report’s veracity.

Reacting to the development on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, Otti corroborated the report but clarified that the entry in question was made in error.

The Governor stressed that the error stemmed from a software glitch generated by the Excel package used in preparing the budget document.

He said this while answering questions from journalists during his visit to Eziukwu Road Market in Aba to sympathise with some traders who lost their goods in a fire incident that occurred in the market on Monday.

He noted that upon seeing the figures quoted in the report, he immediately cross-checked and realised there was a mix-up.

“When I saw that report, I knew something was wrong. I knew it could either be the units or the price. So, I called the Commissioner for Budget and Planning and asked him to check it out and call me back.

“He did and reported that it was neither the units nor the price that was wrong but the Excel. If you use Excel and the formula is not very right on a particular line, you’re bound to have a problem like that.

“It’s a mistake that has been corrected.

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. The overall numbers are correct and the figure of N1.5 billion was N150 million; two units of Hilux vans at N75 million each will give you N150 million, that’s the correct number,” Otti clarified.