The Judicial Panel of Enquiry on the Recovery of Government Properties, Funds and Related Matters set up by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has commenced probing the administration of ex- governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
This is as the panel which began sitting on Tuesday in Umuahia denied any service of injunction by Ikpeazu.
Ikpeazu was reported to have procured an injunction from an Abuja High Court, restraining the State Government from probing him or officials that served under his administration after Otti had on June 27, inaugurated the Judicial Panel of Enquiry on the Recovery of Government Properties, Funds and Related Matters.
The Governor had also during his inaugural speech promised to recover every money and property of the state stolen by public office holders.
He mandated the panel to recover every looted property of the state from 2015 to May 2023.
In her speech at the inaugural sitting of the Panel, the Chairman, Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe (rtd), vowed that the panel would in strict adherence to its terms of reference, go after proven looters.
Noting that the job of the panel included “both investigatory and advisory”, Justice Duruoha-Igwe, said the panel would offer appropriate advice to Government after its investigations.
The Chairman also explained that the panel was not set up for witch hunt of anybody, promising to be fair to all.
