Police have arrested the Chief of Staff to the previous Governor, who was later released on bail.
Mr. Anthony Agbazuere, also known as ACB Agbazuere, who previously served as the Chief of Staff to former Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, has been released on bail by Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe (Rtd), the chairperson of the Abia State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Government Property and Funds Recovery.
Upon assuming office, Dr. Alex Otti, the state governor, established the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Recovery of government property.
The purpose of this panel is to retrieve government property that has allegedly been taken by political appointees who worked under Governor Ikpeazu's administration.
The state command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) apprehended and brought Agbazuere before the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Recovery of government property.
This occurred after the panel's chair issued a bench warrant against Agbazuere when he did not appear for questioning regarding the Prado SUV that he had after his tenure ended.
Agbazuere, accompanied by his attorney, was given bail amounting to five hundred thousand naira, with one surety providing an equal amount.
Justice Duruoha-Igwe has made it clear that Agbazuere must provide a surety for the case file JPREC/270/2023. The surety should be a Permanent Secretary of Grade Level 17 or a serving Member in the State House of Assembly from the Constituency of the witness.
The announcement was made by the panel. The hearing on the issue was postponed by the panel until the 2nd of February in the year 2024. Justice Duruoha-Igwe, who presided over the panel's inquiry, decided to revoke the bench warrant issued to Sir Don Ubani after carefully considering the application from the panel's counsel and the responses from the witness's counsel.
Justice Duruoha-Igwe emphasized the necessity of conducting a thorough investigation to determine if there was indeed a decision made by the previous administration of the Executive Council to hand over the Toyota Fortuna Jeep to him, as he has asserted.
The panel acknowledged that although Sir Ubani provided testimony, the absence of solid proof necessitated the request for further witnesses to illuminate the crucial issue. "I have taken into account the request made by the knowledgeable attorney to the committee as well as the reply given by the attorney representing the witness, Sir Don Ubani. In my opinion, it is necessary to conduct additional investigation in order to determine whether there was a decision made by the Executive Council to allocate the Toyota Fortuna jeep to the witness."
"We have no concrete evidence at the moment, except for the recent visit by the witness. In order to strengthen our case and make a well-informed recommendation, we must seek additional testimonies from other witnesses who have not testified yet. However, if the witness happens to obtain the crucial Exco decision we require, they should submit it to the panel for our consideration."
"In the meantime, it is required that Sir Don Ubani commits to preserving the Toyota Fortuna black Jeep, which has the Chassis number MHFDS8FS9L0104225 and the Engine number 2TRA691618. He should also be prepared to present the vehicle whenever necessary." Justice Duruoha announced that the witness's bench warrant, which was issued on January 10, 2024, is now canceled. Prof ACB Agbazuere and Sir Don Ubani stated previously, contradicting the notion that the panel aimed to unjustly pursue former political officials, that the panel consists of trustworthy individuals who are committed to rectifying any misrepresentations and guaranteed their accessibility whenever summoned.
"The committee recognized that Dr. Philip Ntoh, the former provost of Abia State College of Education Technical, Arochukwu, had possessed and subsequently returned a Toyota Hummer bus to the college." Sir Onyii Wamah, the former Head of Service, appeared before the panel because of a Toyota Prado Jeep that was allegedly given to him by the previous government of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.
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