By IHECHINYERE CHIGEMERI-UWOM

There shall be no witch-hunt in the discharge of the assignment of the Panel of Inquiry for the Recovery of Government Property and Funds in Abia.

The assurance was given by its chairperson, retired Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe, on Tuesday in Umuahia.

“The panel will discharge its duty faithfully and impartially,” she said at its inaugural sitting.

She said the panel was mandated to investigate alleged looting of government property and funds and the conversion of the resources to personal use by some officials between May 2015 and 2023.

She added that the panel would exercise all the powers provided by the Laws of Abia State of Nigeria (2005) as they related to the obtaining of evidence in conducting its proceedings.

“Ours is not an inquisition and we shall not carry on as if we have already targeted and branded anyone as guilty.

“We are hopeful that we shall enjoy the maximum cooperation of the petitioners, counsel, witnesses and the public. This will make for a speedy disposal of matters brought before us.

“We also pray to God to help us to make the right recommendations,” Justice Duruoha-Igwe said.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Umuahia Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Jasper Ejimofor, commended government for setting up the panel of inquiry.

He, however, called for the backdating of the period of reference to begin from May 2003 as against May 2015 which was given to the panel.

He noted that the looting of government property and funds was highly unacceptable and expressed optimism that the panel would live up to expectation.

Also addressing the panel, the Attorney-General of Abia, Mr Ikechukwu Uwanna, charged it to discharge its duty creditably and promptly.

“I call on members of the public to be bold and to be courageous in supporting the panel with whatever its needs to do this job creditably.

“We will focus on addressing the ills that happened between 2015 and 2023 and with the outcome, we will consider extending the inquiry to the preceding administration if need be,” Uwanna said.

Gov. Alex Otti inaugurated the panel on June 26 to probe his predecessor administration. (NAN)

Update news