Rochas Okorocha Runs Into Troubled Waters As EFCC Closes In

The plot to impeach the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha gathered momentum yesterday when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) rearrested the Accountant General of the state, George Ezenna Eche and the Commissioner for Finance, Chike Okafor.

In furtherance of the goal to remove Okorocha from office, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Turkur met with some select members of the Imo State House of Assembly on issues bordering on the political disharmony in the state.
The two   officials were arrested relating to petitions sent to the commission alleging that a construction company JPROS International Limited was paid over N1 billion for a construction contract.

The company was alleged to have been paid the full cost of the contract even though work had not commenced on the project.
The contract led to the impeachment of the former deputy governor in the state, Jude Agbaso.
This is the second time the anti-corruption agency has carried out the detention of the two officials over allegations of fraud and abuse of office. The duo were arrested in January and granted bail but were never charged with a crime.

At press time, the duo was still being detained by the EFCC. The commission plans to make further arrests in the state.
Confirming their arrest and interrogation, spokesman of the commission, Wilson Uwujaren said their detention was part of the ongoing investigation of the N458 million scandal that led to the impeachment of the former deputy governor.
Also Tuesday, EFCC quizzed Hon. Simon Iwunze, Chairman of the Imo State House of Assembly Ad-hoc Committee that investigated Agbaso. He was quizzed and released on administrative bail.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that Tukur met with select members of the state assembly on March 5 at the PDP campaign office in Maitama, Abuja.

A source from the Imo State Government who spoke to newsmen said the continued arrest and interrogation of senior officials of the Imo State cabinet and members of the state assembly were orchestrated attempts to incriminate the governor, and thus prepare grounds for his impeachment.
“What that is happening is not new to us. It is part of the tactics to incriminate the governor and prepare grounds for his impeachment. We know those behind it.
“This has intensified following the comment by the Speaker of Imo state House of Assembly, Benjamin Uwajumogu, that some politicians offered N3 billion to him to facilitate the impeachment of the governor, which he rejected.”
Confirming the threats of impeachment, the deputy governor, Prince Eze Madumere told newsmen in Abuja that what was happening was purely politics.

He said: “The Rescue mission led by Governor Rochas Okorocha is clean and we are not afraid of any politically motivated investigation.  This is just politics trying to discredit the administration of the Imo State government.”
The deputy governor said the Okorocha administration had done what no other state government in the state had done in the last 14 years or anywhere in Nigeria.

However, the leadership of the PDP in the south-east zone yesterday dismissed as “infantile, irresponsible and disingenuous” media reports alleging that the party bribed the speaker of the Imo assembly with N3 billion to impeach the governor.
The party’s National Vice-Chairman (South-east), Col. Austin Akobundu (rtd), in a statement by his Special Adviser, Hon. Osita Igbe, denied the allegation which he said feeds into an emerging picture of politics in the state since April 2011, stating that "it is based on dishonourable propaganda and flagrant disregard for the truth.”

The statement said: “The attention of PDP in the south-east zone has been drawn to a report entitled, ‘PDP offered me N3bn to impeach Okorocha – Uwajumogu’, and which was syndicated through some national dailies of Wednesday, April 16, 2013, and on the social media.
"In it, the speaker of the state assembly, Uwajumogu, alleged that the national vice-chairman of the party of the zone, Akobundu, alongside other persons, offered him N3 billion to facilitate the impeachment of Okorocha.

“The allegation in its entirety is infantile, irresponsible and disingenuous. It feeds into an emerging picture of politics in the state since April 2011, which is based on dishonourable propaganda and flagrant disregard for the truth.
"Assuming that such a plot even existed, there is no chance that Akobundu, a former military officer who knows the value of loyalty, would entrust it to a political turncoat like Uwajumogu. It is another cock and bull tale from a discredited government of confidence tricksters who are clutching at straws for survival.”