Former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has dismissed reports claiming he has defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, and was indicted for diverting ₦1.9 trillion during his administration.
Ikpeazu, in a statement issued on Sunday by his Media Adviser, Enyinnaya Appolo, described the reports as “inaccurate, misleading and poorly verified.”
According to the statement, the former governor remains a committed member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and “indeed attended the most recent meeting of party stakeholders on November 18, 2025.”
The statement faulted the publication that alleged Ikpeazu dumped the PDP in April 2024, insisting that a basic verification from party officials or public records would have disproved the claim.
No KPMG fraud indictment — Ikpeazu camp
Addressing reports of alleged diversion of ₦1.9 trillion supposedly uncovered by a KPMG audit, Appolo clarified that no such audit exists.
He explained that what the Abia State Government commissioned in 2024 was a process review, not a financial audit, citing a March 2, 2024 KPMG report titled “Final Report: Provision of Process Review Services to Abia State.”
Quoting directly from the document, the statement noted:
“This assignment was not performed by us in the capacity of a statutory auditor. Hence, this is not any form of financial statements audit of ABSG or any entity listed in the report.”
It further stressed that KPMG “did not conduct an inquiry or trial, sit as a tribunal or commission of inquiry, perform any adjudicatory function, or determine whether any individual was guilty or innocent of any offence.”
The statement added that the ₦1.9 trillion figure in circulation does not reflect Abia State’s actual revenue under Ikpeazu, citing publicly available SFTAS and Federal Ministry of Finance records.
No charges or indictments
The former governor’s media aide maintained that Ikpeazu “has not been indicted, charged, or prosecuted in any court of law on this matter or on any corruption issue since leaving office.”
He urged the newspaper responsible for the report to issue a correction, emphasising that Ikpeazu is “a former governor currently nominated for national service.”
The statement concluded that Ikpeazu “served Abia State diligently for eight uninterrupted years and left office without legal or administrative blemish,” calling for more responsible and verified reporting.
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