You can’t stop the probe of your administration – Abia Govt tells Ikpeazu

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

Abia State Government has reacted to the ex parte order from Abuja stopping the probing of the past administration of former Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, saying that the court order would not stand.

The position of the state government was made known by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, on Wednesday, while briefing newsmen in Umuahia.

The commissioner, who faulted the former governor for going to Abuja to obtain an injunction stopping the panel of inquiry set up by the state government, described the move as laughable.

The state government, rather, said Ikpeazu should have faced up and proved his innocence rather than seeking protection from an Abuja High Court.

“An ex parte order was obtained by the former governor trying to stop the panel of inquiry from looking into the activities of his eight-year tenure in office, an action I believe is laughable.

“I believe that if you are accused of infractions, the best thing to do is face up to whatever it is to prove yourself innocent, but for the former Governor to have shopped around for an order to stop the panel from operating leaves much to be desired.

“Going to Abuja to obtain an ex parte order from the High Court is an undue interference into the affairs of the state and I can assure you that, I don’t think that would stand,” the commissioner said.

Kanu gave an insight that the state government would also head to court to vacate the injunction.

“At the end of the day, our legal team would do the needful to vacate the order. It is not right and it does not show good thinking.”

A Federal High Court had on Monday, granted an interim injunction stopping the Panel pending the determination of the originating motion on notice.

The injunction order restrained the Abia governor and the panel of inquiry from investigating the immediate past administration of Okezie Ikpeazu.

The case was brought before the court by C.C. Enuka, the Counsel to Gabriel Onyendilefu and others, which sought the order of the Court to restrain the respondents from inviting, summoning, interrogating, harassing, intimidating, arresting, detaining, seizing any property belonging to the applicants, their children, any member of their family or any person connected to the applicant insofar as it relates to the applicants’ tenures as public officers in the Abia State government, pending the determination of the originating notice.