BY ANAYO OKOLI

UMUAHIA—ABIA State  governor, Chief Theodore Orji, has assured that the panels of inquiry set up by his administration were not targeted at witch-hunting any body but to ensure that state institutions were run effectively and efficiently.

*Gov Theodore Orji

Orji also said the decision to set up the various panels of inquiry was in respect of pressures from the people who gave him their mandate, urging him to look into how some of the state’s organisations were managed.

The governor spoke in Umuahia when he received the report of the panel that probed the running of Abia State Printing and Publishing Company, publishers of Ambassador Newspapers.

Receiving the report from Justice Amaobi Agbara-led panel, Governor Orji commended the committee for a diligent job, despite constraints it faced, including a legal battle by those who were not comfortable with the panel’s job.

He said:  “Like I have always said, our inquiries are not to victimise anybody. They are in response to requests and pressure from those who voted me and who want to know how the state institutions are being managed.

“If I reject the pressure, it will look like I am covering up something. So we are not targeting anybody.“For the Abia Printing and Publishing Corporation, you and I know what has been going on.

“There is this allegation that machines and equipment meant for this Corporation were diverted to set up one national paper. To clear this, people now put pressure on me to find out the truth.

“With this report, we are now adequately and properly armed; individuals are also adequately and properly armed to know the truth.

“This is a legal document with which any interested Abian can work with. We have others. When I go, any person coming may be under pressure to do what I did. Let him go ahead to probe but I will make sure that I leave a clean slate.

“What we are guiding against is misuse of public funds. This document will guide us well.”