“Aba Town Hall Rehab Cost N149.2m, Not N6.2bn” – Ex-Mayor Wogu Debunks Charles Ogbonna’s Claim

Former Mayor of Aba South Local Government Area, Chief Uche Wogu, has debunked claims that the rehabilitation of Aba Town Hall gulped N6.2 billion, describing the allegation as false and misleading.

Wogu’s clarification follows a viral video by Chief Charles Ogbonna alleging that the project, damaged during the EndSARS protests, cost N6.2 billion.

In a statement on Thursday, Wogu said he ordinarily would not respond to misleading posts, but decided to set the records straight for posterity.

“I was the Mayor of Aba South Local Government Area at the time the Aba Town Hall rehabilitation project was executed. The initiative to rehabilitate the Town Hall was my idea. I personally worked out the construction details and cost estimates in collaboration with the Head of the Department of Works, Engineer ID Ngwakwe and his team,” he said.

According to him, the project was executed through direct labour and the total approved cost was ratified by the Finance and General Purposes Committee of Aba South Local Government Council on December 14, 2023.

“The total approved cost of construction, as ratified by the Finance and General Purposes Committee was One Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Two Hundred and Twenty-Four Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-Six Naira, N149,224,446.00 only. Accordingly, the claim that N6.2 billion was spent is entirely false and appears to be a product of the speaker’s imagination,” Wogu stated.

He added that the project was closely supervised from inception to completion by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzo Nwachukwu, and attached an extract from the minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee meeting confirming the approval.