Abia blames typo after allocating N210m for photocopier in 2026 budget

The Abia state government has blamed the budgetaryallocation of N210 million for the purchase of a photocopier in its 2026 budgeton technical error that occurred during the final compilation of the document. The clarification comes after public commentary andcriticism over the allocation. In a statement on Saturday, the state ministry of budget andplanning said the amount was not allocated for the purchase of a photocopier. The budget office said the “figure that appeared beside thephotocopier item on page 289 is not the provision for a photocopier”. “It is, in fact, the value for a different, larger capitalproject elsewhere in the budget, which was displaced by the formatting error,”the ministry said. “The budget for the photocopier and sundry office equipmentremains ₦12,000,000.00 as correctly stated on page 60.” The statement said all purchases must follow legal approvalsteps, including checks by tenders boards and final approval by the finance andgeneral purpose committee and the state executive council. “On page 60 of the said document, the correct and intendedprovisions are clearly stated as follows: ₦210,831,142.00 was provided for the‘rehabilitation/repair of residential building/staff quarters for Lagos liaisonoffice,’ while ₦12,000,000.00 was provided for the procurement of one Sharpphotocopier and other sundry office equipment for the liaison office,” thestatement added. “A technical error occurred during the final compilation ofthe voluminous document. On page 289, a misalignment of text and values tookplace, which inadvertently flipped the descriptions against the figures.” The ministry said the error led to an incorrectinterpretation of the entry, adding that the relevant agency has since beeninformed of the correction. According to the statement, there was no inflation in thecost of procuring the photocopier, describing the mistake as purely clericaland presentational. The ministry apologised for the confusion and reaffirmed its“commitment to transparency, fiscal discipline and accountability in themanagement of public funds”.

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