The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has reportedly suspended the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo, following allegations of financial mismanagement and a lack of accountability.
The suspension was announced during the State Executive Council meeting held on Monday.
According to reports circulating on social media and confirmed by a top government official who chose to remain anonymous, Dr. Okoronkwo has been directed to step aside indefinitely.
This decision is said to facilitate a thorough investigation into numerous complaints about financial discrepancies and opaque practices within the Health Ministry.
The source told Vanguard, “The Governor actually asked the Health Commissioner to step aside to allow an unbiased investigation into the barrage of complaints over financial mismanagement and lack of transparency.”
The source said: “There were issues of transparency in the delivery of duties, and the Governor felt that some actions were not in tandem with his vision for accountability and transparency. He then asked her to step aside for the audit so that the process of audit would not be affected.
“It’s not as if it’s a death sentence or indictment. It’s just to strengthen the Governor’s resolve to ensure that there is accountability.”
The Governor said: “Step aside let’s look through some of the issues raised against you by some people concerning some of your conducts and delivery of your mandate as Commissioner for Health.
You know we – the Governor and those who work with him – subject ourselves to public scrutiny. People keep sending in messages, and when you see a barrage of these messages coming against one person or Ministry, the best thing to do is to look into the activities of such a person or Ministry. And that’s what the Governor has done.
“Note that the Commissioner for Health has not been indicted for anything. What the Governor said is:”step aside let’s look into your activities. The Governor is committed to transparency and accountability, and he has zero tolerance for corruption.”
