By Steve Oko

Governor Alex Otti has revealed why his former Commissioner for Health, Dr Ngozi Okoronkwo, resigned her appointment.

The former Commissioner whose formal resignation was announced last Monday, was suspended from office about two months ago over alleged “gross misconduct”.

Otti who was responding to an inquiry during a media parley Friday night in Umuahia, said the former Commissioner was discovered to have abused some procedures in the discharge of her duties.

The Governor, however, absolved the ex-commissioner of any financial impropriety, explaining that she decided to throw in the towel on her own volition.

According to the Governor, the committee set up to investigate her after she was suspended, did not find her guilty of any financial impropriety or theft.

” Her resignation has been received and accepted. Before she resigned, the committee set up to investigate her turned in its report.

” Going through the report, there was no financial impropriety established but there were conducts that were not consistent with laid down policies and procedures.

” But since she offered to resign, Government decided to accept her resignation.

” I want to repeat: There was no stolen money; money was not mismanaged but there were procedures that were abused, and we didn’t think that that was enough for more than a reprimand or warning or caution but she chose to throw in the towel, and Government decided to accept her resignation”.

On the alleged mass disengagement of staff of Town Planning Authorities in Obingwa, Osisioma, Aba North and Aba South Local Government Areas, the Governor said that the affected staff were not civil servants but only contract staff.

He explained that Town Planning Authority was overstaffed, hence the need to rationalize and weed out those who were engaged through political patronage.

” The Town Planning Authority had a lot of people who were on contract. They were not permanent staff. We believed that some of those were just done as political patronage. And what we are doing is to rationalize.

” There are few of them who have the required skills, experience and certification, we are trying to reabsorb them. The rest of them have been paid off. They are not permanent employees of Government.

“They are not civil servants. They were engaged before now. We have managed them but we really don’t have any jobs for them”.

Responding to a question on when Abia would be conducting Local Government election, the Governor said the state would soon present a draft bill before the House of Assembly for the amendment of the state LG electoral law.

He explained that as soon as that was done, and the necessary changes effected, the state would then hold council poll.

” The timetable for council election is not yet out. We believe things needed to be changed in the electoral law.

” In the next few days, we will be approaching the House of Assembly to change a few things, and make the conduct of the election as seamless as possible”, Otti said.

He promised that equal playground shall be given to all the political parties and participants during the exercise.