Abia judicial panel submits final report on recovery of government assets

The Abia State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the Recovery of Government Properties, Funds and Related Matters (2015–2023) on Tuesday submitted its final report to Governor Alex Otti at Government House, Umuahia.

The panel, inaugurated over two years ago, compiled its findings in two volumes after receiving 350 petitions and memoranda. The submission was witnessed by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Ikechukwu Uwanna, alongside other senior officials.

Presenting the report, the panel’s chairman, Justice Florence Duroha-Igwe (Rtd), explained that 278 petitions were concluded in the first report, while the remaining 72, earlier left unheard, were addressed in this final submission. She noted that the report consists of an addendum to the main report and an addendum to the proceedings.

Governor Otti, while receiving the documents, said the panel was set up because his administration met no proper handover at the time of assuming office. He stressed that the move was not driven by vendetta, scapegoating, or witch-hunting, but by the need to clarify concerns raised by citizens and to understand the state’s financial and administrative situation.

“We just needed to know what happened. A proper handover was not done, so a lot of times we were groping for information. Many people had concerns which, in a democracy, deserved to be heard and investigated,” the governor said.

Otti assured that his government would take the report seriously, disclosing that a committee had already been constituted to produce a white paper on the panel’s findings. “That committee has been working on the earlier submitted volumes, and this final report will be handed over to them to flesh out the issues that need to be addressed,” he stated.

The governor commended Justice Duroha-Igwe and members of the panel for their “hard work and diligence” over the past two years, noting that the volume of petitions received was far greater than expected but necessary to give citizens an opportunity to be heard.