From Godwin Tsa, Abuja

A consultancy firm, Mauritz Walton has challenged former a governorship candidate in Abia State, Alex Otti to furnish the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), with facts and circumstances surrounding the repayment of the state Paris Club Refund.

The firm which claim to have provided consultancy services for Abia state on the Paris Club refund loans has equally challenged two former commissioners of finance in the state, Obinna Oriaku and Philip Nto to come clean on the issue and to stop confusing the public.

The firm threw the challenge while reacting to Otti’s press statement on Tuesday, entitled: “Abia Paris Club Refunds: Stealing On an Industrial Scale”, which was published in some national dailies on Wednesday. The consultancy firm advised Otti to avail himself the opportunity to understand the agreement and implications of the consultancy, before jumping into conclusion that it is “stealing on an industrial scale.”

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Otti had alluded that the contract was a grand plan to fleece the state government with “brazen audacity and cruelty” and “to make millions of Abians slaves to the perpetrators of those heinous financial crimes.” It noted that the contract was meant to cripple the state economically.

But the statement signed by the Group Executive Chairman/CEO of Mauritz Walton Nig. Ltd, Dr. Maurice Ibe, noted that the firm’s contract with Abia government was in fact for the betterment of the citizens of the state. He stated that no single individual or entity has brought  $151 million USD to the state since its creation.

Dr. Ibe advised Oriaku and Nto to tell the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the public all they know about the misappropriation of the money paid to Abia State government by the Federal Government, rather than misinforming the public.