Otti Receives Judicial Panel Interim Report, Vows to Implement Final Recommendations

*Fear of mass sack grips Abia workers 

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

After receiving the interim report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on recovery of looted funds and properties of Abia State, Governor Alex Otti, has vowed to implement the final recommendations to the letter.
He stated his intention weekend when he received three volumes of interim reports turned in by the panel headed by Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe(rtd), after 13 months of investigations.

Otti granted the panel extension of its work following request by the chairman, on the ground that there were still a number of petitions yet-to-be treated.
He said it was reasonable to extend the lifespan of the panel “since there are petitions that have not been investigated.”
According to him, in the circumstance it has found itself, “more time should be given to the panel to cover (the remaining areas) instead of abruptly terminating the job of the panel.”

Otti assured the panel members that he would on no account sweep their final recommendations under the carpet, adding that the interim report in his hand “was a job thoroughly done.”
Meanwhile, despite the assurances given by Otti that no further mass sacking of workers would be carried out, anxiety still hung in the air.
The fresh wave of fear and anxiety sweeping across the Abia government employees followed a directive issued to the ministries, departments and agencies(MDAs) to compile names of Directors that have stayed upwards of two years.

Similar directive was also issued by the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC) to all the Heads of Service(HoS) in the Council areas.
The Heads of Personnel Management (HPM) were asked “to compile and forward the names of substantive Directors that have stayed two years and above in the service”.

In the directive signed by Emelike Oji on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, LGSC, the HoS in the Local Governments were given a deadline of “on or before Wednesday October 2, 2024” to submit the compiled names to the office of the State HoS.

“I am directed to request that you should ensure strict compliance,” the memo said.
Some workers whose names were in the compiled list told our reporter that they were worried because there was every likelihood that directors who had neither attained the requisite years of service nor clocked the retirement age could be axed “for political reasons”.