Abia State government and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party have engaged in a war of words since last week Wednesday, following the sealing of the PDP secretariat by the state government.
The staff of Umuahia Capital Development Authority had sealed the PDP secretariat, located on Finbarrs Road in Umuahia, the state capital, following an order from the Panel of Enquiry set up by the state government on the recovery of government property in the state, headed by Justice Florence Duruoha-Igwe.
The Abia state government had accused the PDP of paying for the secretariat with public funds under the administration of former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Special Adviser to Governor Alex Otti on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, confirmed that the panel gave the order for the sealing of the facility after it was discovered that it was receiving funding from the state government.
He revealed that the owner of the property had petitioned the governor for a payment, which showed that the Ministry of Lands has been responsible for the bills.
Ekeoma said, “We have verifiable evidence that the state Ministry of Lands and Housing was the one making payment for the facility.
“This information came to our notice when the owner of the property wrote a petition to the ministry, requesting that they should complete payment for the building.”
Reacting to development, state vice chairman of PDP, Chief Amah Abraham, said the government’s action was a witch-hunt against the state chapter of the party.
He alleged that the party was not duly informed of the directive, denying knowledge of the ownership of the structure.
He said, “Our party has occupied the facility for over 12 years and our present State Working Committee is not the first to use that secretariat, nobody contacted us before it was sealed.
“I have no information on how payment was made for the building, I didn’t make any payments and nobody told me about the payment that was made.”
