According to VANGUARD, Umuahia - The judicial panel of inquiry set up to investigate
activities of the Abia Physical Planning and Infrastructure Development
Fund (ASPPIDF) has uncovered N24 billion fraud between 1999 and 2012.
The Chairman of the panel, Justice Okey Nwosu, gave the figure when
he presented the panel’s five-volume report to Gov. Theodore Orji, at
the Government House in Umuahia on Monday. Nwosu said the amount was
part of the internally-generated revenue by ASPPIDF since its inception
in 1999.
It urged the government to direct a comprehensive audit of the agency
to determine the exact amount and those involved in the fraud.
Receiving the report, Orji said the panel was set up “not to witch-hunt
but to find out why the fund could not live up to people’s
expectation’’.
Orji expressed regrets over “the colossal revenue loss’’ in the
agency, saying that the money could have been used in the development of
the state.
He commended the panel for the effort in carrying out its assignment
and assured that the recommendations would be implemented. (NAN)
