From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Abia State government has gone hard on some ex-government officials who were alleged to have converted public properties to private uses, sealing two of such properties.
The sealed properties were said to belong to a former deputy governor of the state, and a former commissioner for transport.
The properties are located at Ikot Ekpene Road/Onyeador Close, beside the Eziama Police Divisional headquarters, and on Ekenna Street, all in Aba.
In an interview after the properties were sealed by officials of Aba North and Osisioma Town Planning Authorities at the weekend, the General Manager, Greater Aba Development Authority, Uche Ukeje, said the sealed properties were owned by the state, but illegally converted to private use.
“Let’s start with Ekenna. If my facts are right, you are talking about 40A/40B, Ekenna Street, GRA, Aba.
“That property belongs to Abia State government. It used to be property of Aba Textile Mills and Assets. During the past administration, they recovered it from Church Gate Holdings that was part of Abia State government partners in Abia Textile Mills and handed it over to the advertisement agency that belongs to the state.
“We discovered that part of the process of looking at what has happened in the near past within the state government, that the former consultant to ABSA, who was also the past commissioner for transport, had through a C of O, dated, April 29, 2023, after the elections were over and winner declared, converted a public asset to his private property.”
On the property on Onyeador Close, Ukeje said the property belongs to the Abia State government and used to serve as the state veterinary clinic.
“The state needs it for the National Industrial Court that will be sited there and we hope that it will be put to public use, instead of to transfer it to private ownership.
“It is part of the sanitisation process and this is just the beginning, we will continue to find to discover such assets and recover them for the use of the public as it is meant to be.”
On the stop order giving the contractor handling the Ariaria A-Line road project, the GADA general manager said it was done because development is going on without approval.
“Part of the stop work order we issued today (Thursday) to the developer is for him to bring the entire documentation that he is using for that project, so that there could be a technical review, between his team and our technical team, so that we can understand whether his assumptions are consistent with reality,” on ground on tackling flooding in the area.
Also in taking the action, Ukeje said although government welcomes investments from everywhere, as its not anti-business, however, that government will not let private profit dominate public interest.
“That is not going to happen. So what we are trying to do is to walk the thin line between private investment and protecting public interest. So, what we did today (Thursday) was to ensure that thin line is maintained.”
He disclosed what they did was part of a non-political process of recovering public assets that have been transferred to private ownership, adding that as the days and weeks go by, more of such actions would be taken.