A photocopier (commonly referred to in Nigeria as a photocopy machine) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply.
A SaharaReporters' review of the Abia State 2026 approved budget has revealed that the state government, led by Governor Alex Otti, plans to buy a photocopier at N210 million.
A photocopier (commonly referred to in Nigeria as a photocopy machine) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply.
Otti assented to the 2026 Appropriation Bill of N1,016,228,072,651.99 in December 2025.
Details contained in the budget document published by the state government show that N210,831,142.00 was budgeted to buy a photocopier for the Lagos Liaison Office.
The contract was captured under Total Capital Expenditure, Reform for Government and Governance, Abia State Liaison Office, Lagos.
In 2025, N2.5 million was budgeted for the purchase of the same item. The reason for the increase of over N208 million by the government remains unknown.
A further review of the budget shows that N287 million is earmarked under Abia Policy Innovation Centre for publicity on social media and radio.
The newspaper previously reported how the governor spent a whopping N927 million within three months on refreshments/meals, settlement of honorarium, allowances, and welfare packages for officials in 2023.
About N737,922,661.25 was also spent to buy vehicles within this period. However, the quantity and the people the vehicles were bought for were not stated.
According to a copy of the state budget performance obtained by the newspaper, the governor spent N223,389,889.84 on refreshments/meals, while N305,400,000.00 was spent on honorarium and sitting allowance for government officials between July and September 2023.
The Otti-led government also claimed it spent N397,520,734.00 on welfare packages in the document.
Meanwhile, N362,804,050.00 was spent by the Abia government to purchase trucks, and another N400,890,000.00 was used for the purchase of buses. Also in the document, the government claimed that N252.4 million was used to run the Deputy Governor's office for three months.
The report, however, showed that only N25 million was spent by the government on the repair of public schools in the state, despite many public primary and secondary schools in the state being in bad shape.
According to multiple reports online, most public secondary and primary school buildings and facilities across the 17 local government areas of the state have aged and decayed due to government negligence.
Several school buildings are reportedly dilapidated with leaking roofs, broken furniture, doors, and windows.