Plot 43 Finbars Road Umuahia has been temporarily sealed off pending the conclusion of the investigation on the structure, according to Justice Florence Doruoha-Igwe (retd), chairperson of the Abia State judicial panel of inquiry on the recovery of government property and cash.
People who were supposedly from the Umuahia Capital Development Authority (UCDA) locked the building on Wednesday.
The judicial panel noted that the building housing the PDP’s secretariat belonged to the Abia State government, according to Doruoha-Igwe, who issued the order during Wednesday’s hearing of the panel.
Consequently, she ordered H. N. Doruoha, the senior lead counsel to the panel, to notify Alwell Asiforo Okere, the chairman of the PDP in Abia State, and Chidi Onwuchuruba, the immediate past commissioner for land, that they are summoned to appear before the panel on February 16 to provide further information regarding the PDP’s organizational structure.
As part of the continuing examination into their tenures in office, several previous state permanent secretaries, including Benson Ojeikere, the current Permanent Secretary of Government House, and others, testified before the panel.
According to Ojeikere, upon taking office, he discovered inaccurate financial records, incomplete documentation of government projects and activities, and the alleged lack of due process in the bequest of state vehicles to government functionaries.
Additionally, Mba Okereke, a former permanent secretary of the Abia State Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, revealed to the panel that he was not responsible for collecting revenues or implementing projects during his tenure as permanent secretary.
Former Abia State Solicitor General and Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary Mrs. Uzoamaka Uche Ikonne stated in her statement that neither employment racketeering nor biased employment occurred during her tenure.