N600m Xmas/New Year decorations: Gov. Okorocha replies Ihedioha

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has dismissed allegations by former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, of his government’s plan to earmark over N600 million for Christmas and New Year decorations in the state, among other issues raised by the former lawmaker.

A statement by Governor Okorocha, through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, said Ihedioha ‘threw caution to the wind and maligned the Governor of the state’ in his allegations.

“On our part, we feel for Chief Ihedioha, that, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and a member of that House for 12 years, could rush to the media to attack the Governor over what he claimed to have read about the Governor earmarking N600million for decorations, and not that the Governor has spent the amount on the issue. And he could not also disclose the source of the report for it to be believed.

“This could only explain the situation in which Chief Ihedioha has found himself in recent time. Having gone out of the House of Representatives and having lost the 2015 governorship election, Chief Ihedioha has lost all the positions that were attracting free media coverage for him before now. And today, the only time he can be read in the newspapers is when he attacks Governor Okorocha.

“As we write, every patriotic citizen of the state, who also believes that truth is sacred would agree that within the four and half years Owelle Okorocha has been Governor, the state has witnessed rapid development and growth in all spheres of her life. And we have always challenged Chief Ihedioha and his PDP people to catalogue and publish their achievements for the 12 years they governed the state and let Governor Okorocha publish his own achievements for the period he has held sway.

“It is also a statement of fact, that Chief Ihedioha is a billionaire by all standards courtesy of politics. If he doubts it, let him publish his assets both in cash and in property both within and outside Nigeria. Yet, he is one of those who have contributed nothing to the prosperity of the people.

“And we challenge Chief Ihedioha to tell Imo people why the Owerri/Port Harcourt road, Aba/Owerri road, Umuahia/Owerri road could not be finished when he was number seven citizen in the country as the Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives. Let him also publish the list of NDDC projects for the state and the contractors,” the statement read.

Continuing, the statement said: “Before becoming governor, Rochas Okorocha has establishments in the state with a good number of Imo people working in them and earning salaries. If Chief Ihedioha could not promote prosperity in the state while he was the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, there is also no guarantee that he would do that if elected governor since one does not give what he does not have.

“Governor Okorocha has introduced free education that removed the burden of school fees from parents, pays N20,000 minimum wage to workers, which no other state pays across the nation and has embarked on the construction of massive road networks, and infrastructural developments among other people-oriented projects his administration has undertaken.

“So for the sake of emphasis, Chief Ihedioha should forget about 2019 if that is the reason for his incessant media attacks against Governor Okorocha. To the best of our knowledge, Imo PDP won’t give him ticket in 2019 because the one they gave to him for 2015, has remained a source of regret.

“Finally, we refer Chief Ihedioha to the most recent United Nations’ Poverty index or reports on the thirty six (36) states of the federation and Abuja, released in June 2015. In the report, the poverty rate of Imo state is 19.8 percent. We challenge Ihedioha to contradict us on this claim, and Imo is the sixth state with low poverty level in the country after Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Edo and Anambra states. So, Chief Ihedioha was not informed on the poverty status of the state and should do his research next time before feeding the public with expired milk,” the statement concluded.