OKOROCHA AND HIS HABITS; YES IT IS TRUE

Convinced that he would not be re-elected in the 2015 Governorship

election, Governor Rochas Anayo Ethelbert Okorocha decided to embark

on the last minute looting of State funds, especially local government

funds, by ensuring that he mortgaged the 27 LGAs of the State to

ZENITH BANK PLC.

To achieve this evil plot, Okorocha through the Ministry of Local

Government and Chieftaincy affairs headed then by his cousin, Dr.

(Mrs) Adaobi Obasi (who is now the Vice Chancellor of Imo State

University) directed all the 27 TC Chairmen and their Directors of

Administration and General Services (DAGS) to submit their Local

Government’s letter-headed paper. This directive was carried out, and

promptly Okorocha, his Principal Secretary (Dr. Paschal Obi), Dr.

(Mrs) Adaobi Obasi and indeed the Ministry of local Government

reportedly forged a so called “resolution” of Finance and General

Purpose Committee (F&GPC) requesting for a loan of N926 million for

each of the 27 local government areas of the state totaling

N25,002,000,000 = (Twenty five Billion and two million naira only)

from ZENITH BANK PLC..

The Finance and General Purpose Committee (F&GPC) is the highest

decision making body of the Local Government Areas. Thereafter, the

Governor through his cohorts and the Ministry of Local Government

allegedly forced the 27 TC Chairmen and the DAGS to sign the forged

document which scored as basis for Zenith Bank to grant the

aforementioned loan of N25,002,000,000 billion naira. This fraud took

place in December 2014.

Consequently, the loan was granted and Governor Okorocha reportedly

settled the TC Chairmen by paying into their private accounts funds

ranging from N55 million to N90 million depending on his closeness to

each of the T.C Chairmen. The T.C. Chairmen to justify the fraud

“embarked” on re-roofing of council Headquarters with part of the

money paid into their private accounts. They spent only N15 million

and pocketed the balance.

It should be noted that the so-called loan from Zenith Bank never

passed through the Local Government account. It was never approved by

the Imo State House of Assembly. However, when the loan materialized,

and the Benjamin Chukwuemeka Uwajumogu led Assembly got wind of the

fraud, Governor Okorocha reportedly gave each Honourable member the

sum of N30 million naira. Although Uwajumogu got his own share of N30

million, Okorocha allegedly invited the then Speaker privately and

gave him N70 million extra and reportedly told him, “We are into this

game together”

The remaining bulk of the loan from Zenith Bank was allegedly shared

between Okorocha, his Commissioner for Local Government (Dr. (Mrs.)

Adaobi Obasi), his Principal Secretary (Dr Paschal Obi), his wife

(Nkechi) and his kitchen cabinet.

But when President Buhari eventually won the March 28th 2015

Presidential election, Okorocha through political “orogrophy” arranged

his own victory.  Having been sworn-in for his second tenure, he is

now finding it difficult to pay Civil Servants in Imo State because

State and Local Government allocations had been mortgaged to Zenith

Bank and other banks, who on monthly basis are deducting the various

loans granted Okorocha led government which he in-turn converted  to

personal use. Let me put it on record that Okorocha collected loans

from banks on behalf of the state and local government and thereafter

converted same to personal use. The bailout fund will never be used to

pay civil servants. The banks are reportedly holding it for obvious

reasons.

It should be noted that the present or latest N25,002,000,000 billion

fraud got exposed because Okorocha and his cohorts used the DAGS and

the then TC Chairmen to sign the forged document (that is, the F& GPC

resolution), settled only the TC Chairmen and left the DAGS in the

cold, who felt used and dumped. They expected that Okorocha would give

them N26 million each, having participated in the fraud. Since none

came to them, they opened up on this scam. As far as I am concerned,

crime is crime. All the people involved in this fraud must be dealt

with, (DAGS inclusive).

But as a government of iniquity, fraudsters and liars, Governor

Okorocha’s administration has denied ever taking any N25 billion loans

from Zenith Bank in December 2014. Okorocha’s Senior Special Assistant

on Media, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo has denied that government took loan from

Zenith bank few months ago. He made the disclosure in a text message.

Nevertheless, let me say it loud and clear that Okorocha obtained a

N25 billion naira loan from ZENITH BANK PLC in December 2014 through

questionable circumstance. The said loan did not pass through the

local government Account, neither was it approved by the Imo State

House of Assembly. This loan was diverted and shared by Okorocha and

his cohorts. At least, some of those who signed the forged documents

have opened up. Can Zenith bank deny a loan it gave to the Imo State

Government through a forged resolution of Finance and General Purpose

Committee (F&GPC)? Let EFCC, ICPC, Force headquarters and the

Presidency invite Zenith Bank Officials, DAGS, Dr. (Mrs.) Adaobi

Obasi, DR. Paschal Obi, Immediate Past Honourable members, for

“Forensic” questioning and let their findings be made public.

Especially, the EFCC should prove now that it is serious to fight

fraud and corruption in high places. Honourable Celestine Ngobiwu, the

then House Committee Chairman on Local Government and Chieftaincy

Matters should be thoroughly questioned. There are clear evidences.

In the part 2, part 3 and part 4 of this exposure, I will give further

insight of Local Government fraud involving Governor Rochas Okorocha,

TC Chairmen, the two immediate past Commissioners for Local Government

and Chieftaincy  Affairs (Chief Gerry Okolie and Dr (Mrs) Adaobi

Obasi), Ex-Speaker Benjamin Uwajumogu and their criminal gangs.

The reading public should therefore go back to my two published

articles entitled (1) NIGERIAN WORKERS AT THE MERCY OF STATE GOVERNORS

(2) STATE GOVERNORS WHO CONVERT GOVERNMENT PROPERTY TO PERSONAL USE,

to understand the damage Governor Okorocha has inflicted on the people

of Imo State.

It is on record that on the 18th of February 2014, I petitioned the

EFCC, giving clear details of how the then Speaker Benjamin

Chukwuemeka Uwajumogu (his chief of staff, Mr. Kodichi Anamekwe, Emeka

Ahaneku  and his other Aides looted state funds running into billions

of naira. In a bid to silence me, Uwajumogu and Governor Okorocha

connived with the rubber stamp Imo State Police Command and accused me

and my wife of murder, after they had failed to assassinate me on the

3rd of June 2014.

To the glory of Almighty God, I survived all their evil plots after

spending 328 days in illegal detention. Today, the Inspector General

of Police is with my petition on Political Killings and Kidnappings in

Imo State dated 26th JUNE 2015, involving Governor Okorocha, Uwajumogu

and their cohorts.

To the people of Imo State, I say it is time to take the bull by the

horn; Imo Youths should rise up now for we have a thief in our midst

as governor.

YES IT IS TRUE.

I rest my pen

Signed

Citizen Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha.

Former Senior Special Assistant on Media

Immediate Past Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties.

Imo State House of Assembly.

07032934037

17th August 2015

Forwarded to over 3.2 million ema

POOR IMO STATE

At the debate organised by the Nigerian Union of Journalists for gubernatorial candidates‎ in Imo recently Governor Okorocha disclosed that Imo was a poor state. He disclosed that after paying salaries, all that was left of the monthly allocation from Abuja was 400 million Naira.

Four years ago, after he was elected, he always used every opportunity to declare that Imo was a rich state with plenty of money. 

Money which according to him was mismanaged by the Ohakim administration which he said spent the money on champagne and other indulgences.

 The people believed him.

That is why they were surprised by the declaration that Imo is poor state

Okorocha went on to tell the Debate audience that the "massive" projects he had undertaken were made possible because of the astute manner he had managed the meagre finances.

 As is usual with Okorocha,he did not tell the whole story.

He did not mention how much accrued to the state from other sources such as the Excess Crude , Millenium Development Goals , Education Trust,Ecological, Isopadec, and Local Government Funds among others.

 In the case of the last two, he seized the money and said he was saving it for them. 

The Local governments and the oil producing areas should ask him about their saved money which should have come to a huge sum after four years.

‎ Rochas also failed to mention how much had accrued to the state from its investments and  assets which he had leased out.

He did not disclose that he had inherited some money from his predecessor or how much he had borrowed.

Imo state is indeed a poor state. 

It is impoverished by Okorocha's un planned and reckless expenditure, high living and plain thievery‎.

Projects are not ‎thought through or planned. 

An example being the twenty seven teaching hospitals the government planned to build in all the local government areas. 

When Okorocha realised how ridiculous the proposal was he scaled them down to General hospitals. 

This was at a time he was selling off the eight general hospitals in the state because his government could not run or maintain them and their staff went unpaid for months. 

If he could not run eight existing hospitals, one can't help but wonder how he is going to be able to equip, staff and run twenty seven new hospitals. 

At the end of the day, the structures built at great cost will end up being inhabited by reptiles.

Okorocha's high living is costing the state a lot. Before now, Imo Governors travelled to Abuja and other locations within the country on commercial planes along with ordinary people.

Since he became Governor, Okorocha has never travelled on a commercial plane. 

All his trips have been by chartered private jets, hired for 2.5 million Naira for each trip.

 Considering the number of times he travels, plane charter must leave a big hole in the state's finances. 

So also has his Presidential project which he financed with state funds

 Many have questioned why Okorocha unilaterally, without seeking approval from anyone spent a whooping 4 Billion Naira to upgrade the Government House.

That was not the biggest problem facing the state, nor was the project necessary considering that previous Governors had lived there comfortably and happily.

The brazen theft of Government money running into billions through payment of huge mobilisation fees for useless projects which are soon abandoned or for non existent projects has contributed in no small way to the impoverishment our state. Examples include the Five star hotels in each of the three senatorial zones of the state, the multilevel car park and the high rise residential skyscrapers to mention a few.

With all the uncontrolled and reckless expenditure going on in the state, one is not surprised that‎ Imo state is broke or poor to quote it's Chief Executive. 

The situation must be really bad for the Governor to be facing an election almost two weeks into the new month and workers have not been paid for the previous month. Some have not been paid for months. As for Pensioners and Contractors, their ‎own is a sad story.

This is a taste of things to come. 

If Rochas is re- elected, the recklessness and impunity will increase as he will not be asking anyone for another mandate. 

Such impunity and recklessness will make life really difficult. 

Nobody wants that.  This is why Okorocha must be voted out on Saturday. 

God bless you as you vote. Remember,  Ka o puo!

Government By Deceit.

Shortly after Go‎vernor Rochas Okorocha  assumed office, he introduced what he called the Imo Anthem to be sung  in schools and at every occasion where the National Anthem is played.

 The wording of the anthem was apt and the tune melodious. It was what the people wanted to hear. 

 Soon it was on the lips of many, especially students who had to sing it every day. 

Some of its verses are reproduced here: 

Imo my state,

Great state, my state, Land of Wisdom, Peace and Unity

O Lord my God

 We cannot do without you

Grant our leaders the wisdom to lead us

Rule of Law

Rule of Law in our time

Rule of Law,

This is our prayer

Corruption must stop

must stop in our time

Corruption must stop, this is our prayer

Education must be free

Must be free in our time

Education must be free

This is our prayer

Imo must be better, must be better in our time, 

Imo must be better 

This is our prayer

Voice of the People

Voice of  the People

Voice of God

Voice of God

No shaking.

While the people were singing Rochas was busy doing ‎every thing but what the song was about.

 In short the people were singing a lie.

There has been no rule of Law under his tenure

 Rochas ignored the Procurement law, declaring  that he did not believe in Due Process and going ahead to spend the state funds as he saw fit. 

 He single handedly awarded contracts running into billions without recourse to anyone. Paid very hefty mobilisation fees for projects of dubious value with some of the contractors absconding with the mobilisation fees. 

He took some of the money himself,  to go to China to buy school uniforms including sandals and furniture, and to refurbish the Government House at the cost of four billion to mention a few.

 In the area of land matters. He bastardised the existing Master plan, converting open spaces and streets to plots allocating them to his relations and cronies as well himself. 

Revocation and reallocation of land previously allocated to other people by earlier governments has been the order of the day with Rochas working through his son in law who he appointed the commissioner of Lands, to allocate land to themselves through proxies, only to turn around and sell the lands. 

In many cases, people's land is seized for no reason. 

Rochas  destroyed property running in hundreds of millions in places like Orlu, Akokwa, OsinaN Anara, Amaraku and along the road from Owerri to Orlu and in many parts of Owerri capital without due process and without paying any compensation to anybody.

In the civil service, appointments, promotions and retirements or dismissals were not done in line with laid down procedure, only according to the whims of almighty Rochas. 

He  tampered with the third tier of government, the Local government by trying to outlaw Town unions and introducing what he calls community government which is not in the constitution and which has refused to work. 

Okorocha is renowned for his blatant disregard and disdain for court orders and processes. 

So where is the rule of law in his government?

The part where the song talks about stopping corruption is a joke. The present administration will go down in history as the most corrupt. Evidence of this can be seen in how much property Okorocha, his siblings, cronies and members of his inner cirle have amassed in the past four years. They have gone about this in a most brazen manner, not caring what anyone may feel

 Okorocha apologists say he was wealthy before he became Governor.

 Maybe so, but the fact remains that he was very heavily indebted to some banks to the tune of several billions on naira and most of his property was mortgaged to these banks.

 After one year in office he had paid off his debts and still has money to keep acquiring more property all over the world.

 All those around him including people who could not even meet their rent obligations before 2011, have become multi millionaires, buying up houses left right and centre.

 Where is the money coming from?

 Okorocha's government saw more money than the previous two administrations put together. 

With the price of oil at more than 100 dollars for most of his regime, the money from the Excess Crude account was huge as was the Isopadec funds. 

Other monies such as Ecological fund, VAT and Local Government allocations among others were all coming and they were cornered by Okorocha.

 Despite all these and the 13 billion Naira he inherited from Ohakim, Imo under Okorocha is heavily indebted to the banks. 

What is there to show for all the money apart from a few shine shine projects situated along the road where the can be seen and some incomplete and uncompletable projects he has embarked on?

What about the scams in Imo Transport Corporation, Adapalm,Concorde Hotel, Ministry of Lands and others to mention a few?

The grandest deceit of all is Okorocha's so called free education.

 How can he say Education is free when he is deducting a per‎centage of workers salaries every month to fund education? 

How can education be free when the students of Imo state university are paying incredible sums as'Acceptance fee'. 

The fee covers what the students were paying as acceptance and school fees before the introduction of free education. 

The founding fathers of IMSU established it to help cope with the large numbers of Imo students, who though qualified were denied admission every year due to such reasons as catchment area. 

Now, for Okorocha to be able to fund his dubious free education, more non indigenes are being admitted so they can pay the fees Imo indigenes are not paying.  

The result is that we are back to where we started, with our qualified children being rejected in their own state university. The cost of this policy is the thousands of  qualified Imo youths who cannot get into the school. How can they say education is free when students are required to pay 20,000 Naira to get cheques for the sum of 100,000 Naira, which they now present as their fees. 

How can education be free when the state is paying greatly for it in terms of falling standards of education. 

The performance of students from the state in all national exams has fallen greatly from the commanding heights of the past. 

There are not enough qualified teachers. The ones who have retired or died have not been replaced. 

The poor funding or non funding of education in the name of free education is taking  a great toll on the state.

 If you are paying a great price for something how can anybody say it is free? Payment does not always have to be cash. It could be in the form of missed opportunities and inferior education owing to poor standards.

Most people will testify that the only people Imo has been better for these past four years are Okorocha and his family and friends, who have truly rescued themselves from poverty, while at the same time plunging the state into the deep abyss of poverty and debt. 

Another four years of Okorocha and his deceit will bring irreparable ruin to Imo. Please vote for change in Imo. Vote out Rochas Okorocha.‎ Ka o puo!