Imo State governor Emeka Ihedioha has alleged that his predecessor,
\nRochas Okorocha looted the state\u2019s purse of over N100billion on phony
\nprojects and left it in a deep financial mess.<\/p>\n
Ihedioha, a former speaker and deputy of Nigeria\u2019s House of
\nRepresentatives, said Okorocha\u2019s eight years as the governors of the
\nstate plunged Imo State into unsustainable debt.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur interim findings show a consistent pattern of massive looting and
\nstripping of public assets, dismantling and carting away of public
\nproperty such as electric poles, vehicles, trucks, office equipment and
\nfurniture etc,\u201d Ihedioha told a meeting of Imo State Stakeholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were last-minute illegal sales of government property at giveaway
\nprices and unlawful allocation of land including backdating of
\nCertificates of Occupancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ihedioha said the state is faced with over N100 billion naira debt with
\n\u201cnothing to show for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Already, Imo State has received over 30 billion Naira worth of Garnishee
\nOrders secured against it by contractors.<\/p>\n
But the Imo State governor said the contracts were fraudulently awarded
\nby Okorocha\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must inform you in this regard that, so far we have received over 30
\nbillion Naira worth of Garnishee Orders arising from several
\nill-conceived and fraudulent contractual agreements deliberately
\nconsummated by the past administration, to destroy the future of the
\nState and its teeming population by fettering the State in a humongous
\ndebt trap,\u201d Ihedioha said.<\/p>\n
Similar comments about Okorocha\u2019s eight years as Imo state governor were
\nmade a day before Ihedioha\u2019s statement by Chidi Odinkalu, a former
\nchairman of Nigeria\u2019s National Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver a period of 8 years, it\u2019s an understatement to say Okorocha stole
\nImo State dry and laid the state desolate,\u201d Odinkalu said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTurning around the state from his reign of pillage and plunder will
\nrequire a lot of work and may be a bit of a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the level of debt Ihedioha said the state faces, he explained to
\nthe stakeholders that he was determined to rebuild the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mission will be to rebuild our beloved state and reposition it as a
\nfirst class, first rate State for investment, a social, political and
\neconomic powerhouse, an oasis of peace, security and development. \u201d<\/p>\n
Imo State governor Emeka Ihedioha has alleged that his predecessor, Rochas Okorocha looted the state\u2019s purse of over N100billion on phony projects and left it in a deep financial mess.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n