Abia judicial panel set up to probe Ikpeazu’s administration begins sitting

The Judicial Panel of Enquiry set up by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, to probe the administration of his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, began sitting on Tuesday in Umuahia, the state capital, with the assurance that it would adhere strictly to its terms of reference of going after indicted looters.

Governor Otti had, on June 27, set up the Judicial Panel of Enquiry on the Recovery of Government Properties, Funds and Related Matters, after publicly accusing his predecessor and officials of his administration of looting and carting away government properties.

He had mandated the panel to recover every looted property of the state from 2015 to May 2023, as well as recover every money and property of the state stolen by public office holders.

While inaugurating the panel, the Chairperson, Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe (rtd), said the job of the members included both investigatory and advisory and urged them to offer appropriate advice to government in their report after its investigations.

She urged the panel to be thorough and firm in conducting the investigation, insisting that public servants must be held accountable for their actions.

Read also: Ex-Gov. Ikpeazu uses court to stop Abia panel set up to retrieve stolen govt property under him

“It is important to mention that this Panel of Enquiry, though quasi-judicial in nature, is not a court properly so called. It was not set up to engage in inquisition nor witch-hunt of anybody,” Justice Duruoha-igwe said.

“Nobody is on trial, rather, we are here to find out what happened to the funds and properties, both movable and immovable, of Abia State between May 2015 and May 2023.

”We shall exercise all the powers with regard to obtaining evidence and conduct of the proceedings.”

The inauguration of the panel was carried out despite efforts by Ikpeazu to stop the probe of his administration after he had procured an injunction from an Abuja High Court restraining the state government from probing him or officials that served under his administration.

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