The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Imo

  • IPMAN shuts petrol stations in Imo

    •Motorists groan as fuel sells for N700 per litre

    Many vehicles were grounded yesterday in Imo State, following the closure of petrol stations.

    The stations were closed by protesting members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), following the N1million levy imposed on petrol station operators by the government.

    Commuters were stranded as transport fares rose astronomically, forcing some government workers to trek to their offices.

    Motorists, who were caught unawares, resorted to buying from the black market at exorbitant rates.

    A litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) sold for as much as N700.

    A taxi driver, simply identified as Okey, said: “I don’t know how to explain this. Last night there was fuel everywhere so most of us did not bother to buy. We woke up to find the petrol stations locked.”

    An IPMAN official, who pleaded for anonymity, said the government, through the Owerri Council Development Authority (OCDA), imposed a non-negotiable levy of N1million for business registration and other conditions.

    He said: “The government threatened to seal off any petrol station that fails to pay the money.

    “This is aside other levies and tax we pay to government.”

    He maintained that the stations will remain locked, until the government rescinds the directive.

    “In as much as we are sensitive to the plight of our customers, we will not allow agents of government to impose illegal levies on us,”the official said.

    When our reporter visited some petrol stations, some of the attendants were seen in groups discussing with some motorists.

    The usual traffic gridlock on major streets in Owerri, the state capital, disappeared as most vehicles were forced off the road.

    Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism Chinedu Offor said: “The government will no longer tolerate any person or business operating in the state without meeting the conditions for doing business.

    “Henceforth, the government will clampdown on businesses operating illegally in the state, including hotels, media outfits and other smaller enterprises.”

    But the Commissioner for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Uche Nwosu, whose ministry supervises the OCDA, has directed the parastatal to suspend the levy, until a better agreement is reached with the aggrieved operators.

     

     

  • Bomb discovered in Imo 40 years after civil war

    A family in Umuoma Autonomous Community, Owerri West Local Government Area of Imo State, was shocked at the weekend to discover undetonated dynamite buried in its compound.

    The bomb, suspected to have been laid during the civil war, was buried in Igbokwe’s compound at Ukwo-Umuoma.

    A police source said the bomb was discovered after several rains that washed away the soil, thereby exposing the edge of the item suspected to have been buried in the compound during the civil war.

    It was not clear whether the bomb was planted by Nigerian troops or Biafran soldiers.

    But a source said the area was the base of Biafran troops, when Owerri sector fell to Federal troops.

    A villager, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “Some children were playing in the compound after the rain, when one of them observed a strange object buried in the ground with some parts exposed.

    “The people in the compound did not know that they have been living with a destructive weapon for over 40 years.”

    It was learnt that on discovery, the police were invited. The Police Anti-Bomb Squad detonated the bomb.

    The source said the bomb experts detonated the bomb in a nearby bush.

    Police spokesman Joy Elemoko confirmed the incident.

  • Agbaso: I’m ready to serve Imo again

    Impeached Deputy Governor of Imo State Jude Agbaso yesterday restated his readiness to serve the people in any capacity.

    Agbaso, who spoke to reporters in Emekuku, Owerri North Local Government Area, insisted that he will serve the state over and over again, if given the opportunity.

    He said: “If given the opportunity in the future I will gladly serve my state. It is saddening that when you serve in good faith people will pay you in bad coin. But the people know better.”

    The former deputy governor also stated that he will continue to challenge his impeachment in court to clear his family’s name.

    Agbaso, who debunked a statement credited to Governor Rochas Okorocha that he received N50 million monthly as security vote, said his office then was grossly under funded.

    “I never received such money in fact my office was under funded. For the period I was in office I never received allowances for my travels within and outside the country. I sponsored my trips even when I was representing the state,” he explained.

  • Imo guber race and Ohakim’s volte face

    Imo guber race and Ohakim’s volte face

    The recent attempt by the former Governor of Imo State and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 elections, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, to be joined as a party in the suit brought by Senator Ifeanyi Araraume of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) challenging the supplementary elections of May 6th 2011 that brought in Owelle Rochas Okorocha as the state governor could be likened to the biblical old wine in a new wine bottle.

    It would be recalled that immediately after the elections of May 6th and the declaration of Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as the valid winner of the rescheduled governorship elections in the state, Ohakim was the first to accept the results of the elections, congratulated Okorocha and pledged not to challenge the election results at the tribunal.

    However, like a leopard that never changes its spots, Ohakim ate his words and went behind to use his party, the PDP, to challenge the elections from the Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal to the Supreme Court where he lost.

    Specifically, the Supreme Court on March 2, 2012, in its judgment affirmed the election of Okorocha as the Governor of Imo State and upheld the judgment of the Imo State Governorship Elections Tribunal that had held that the supplementary elections of May 6th, 2011 as conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was valid.

    Both the Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal had upheld Okorocha’s declaration as the winner of the election.

    However, the PDP was not satisfied with these two concurrent judgments of the two lower courts and had since appealed to the Supreme Court.

    The PDP is challenging the judgment of the Appeal Court which, like the elections petition tribunal, dismissed the party’s petition challenging the election of Okorocha as lacking in merit.

    PDP argued that Okorocha ought not to have been declared winner of the governorship election based on two major reasons: One, the party argues that it won the April 26, 2011 election and that its candidate, Ikedi Ohakim, ought to have been declared winner. PDP is specifically claiming that at the end of balloting on April 26, 2011, it polled a total 310,188 votes as against 305,266 polled by Okorocha’s party.

    APGA, however, strongly disputed this claim. PDP further disagreed with INEC that the election of April 26 2011 was inconclusive.

    Apart from arguing that the supplementary election was illegal, the PDP argued that it was held outside the 30 days stipulated by the Constitution for the successor of an incumbent governor to be elected. Consequently, it had urged the court to declare that the May 6, 2011 supplementary election was null and void. Instead, it urged the tribunal to declare its candidate, Ohakim, winner on the basis of the April 26, 2011 election.

    INEC had in declaring the April 26 2011 election “inconclusive,” hinged its position on the non-holding of election in four local government areas namely Ohaji Egbema, Oguta, Mbaitoli and Ngor Okpala. But PDP disputed this claim. It argued that elections took place in the local government areas and that results were given to parties’ agents.

    The commission claimed that the supplementary election held on the 6th of May, 2011 in Imo State was warranted by reasons of cogent and verifiable reasons which include violence and threat of imminent violence which disrupted the election, thus warranting the cancellation and postponement of the elections in the five local government areas. But PDP disagreed. Ohakim’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), while arguing his client’s case at the Supreme Court, said: “No cogent and verifiable reason, whatsoever, was given by INEC for the postponement of the election of 26th April, 2011 to 6th May, 2011.”

    According to him, INEC acted arbitrarily, whimsically and without any respect for the law. He admitted that under the present electoral regime, INEC had the powers to postpone elections but that it did not have the powers to cancel elections.

    He noted that INEC announced the postponement of the election on the next day after the elections had already taken place. He said, “The purported cancellation and or postponement was done on 27th April, 2011, a day after the elections were held. The question is, can an election scheduled to be held on 26th April, 2011 be postponed on 27th April, 2011?”

    Although, the case of Agbaso Vs Ohakim decided by the Supreme Court is a binding judicial precedent that cancellation or objection to declaration of an inconclusive election was cognisable as election petition, but the case was not an authority that an election held outside 60 days to the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent was constitutional.

    Apart from the fact that the apex court hardly disturbs the concurrent findings of the two lower courts, it is no longer in doubt that INEC has the power to declare an election inconclusive base on material facts available to it.

     

     

  • Day APC governors stormed Imo

    Day APC governors stormed Imo

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governors have stormed Owerri, the Imo State capital, to solidarise with with their colleague, Governor Rochas Okorocha. Correspondent OKODILI NDIDI captures the mood of the people who witnessed the second year anniversay.

    The crowd that welcomed them to Owerri, the Imo State capital, was huge. They cheered them from one end of the metropolis to another. Some waved brooms. Others waved their hands. For the eight All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, it was a popularity ride to the ‘Heartland State.’

    The host governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, was excited at the warm reception. He told the people that the progressives governors had a mission to rescue the country from under-development. As he intoduced them- Babatunde Fashola (Lagos State),Adams Oshiomole (Edo), Rauf Aregbosola (Osun), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti State), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Ibrahim Shetima (Bornu) and Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa)-the crowd jubilated.

    It was an awareness and sensitisation rally. It was also a solidarity visit to Okorocha by the men of goodwill. The implication was not lost on the observers. APC, they believed, has enlarged its coast to the Southeast geo-political zone.

    As from 7 am, the city was bubbling with festivities. The supporters of the governor thronged the Heroes’ Square, the venue of the rally. Politicians, statesmen, top government officials, women groups, youths and students were in one accord. They defied the scorching sun to honour the governors and the visitors.

    Exuding confidence, Okorocha formally informed the people that APC is the answer. Announcing his intention to join the proposed party, he said only the progressives can build a better society.

    The ceremony, which was also part of the activities for the ‘Imo Freedom Day’, marked his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to the APC. He urged the people to embrace the new light and bid farewell to darkness.

    The governor clarified that the APGA is not part of the merger plan. Hoever, he described the coming together of like-minded parties, individuals and groups as the best step in the right direction.

    “It is a matter of time; the APC will take over the affairs of the country. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has failed the people of the Southeast in the 12 years of democracy. The entire Ndigbo are for APC”, he said.

    Okorocha allluded to the APC’s selling point. He pointed out that the APC governors are achivers in their state, adding that he was not in a bad company. “These my brothers have transformed their states and are doing more; that is what the new party stands for. It means freedom to the people, the poor masses and the indigent widows, who have been victims of the PDP’s misrule”, he added.

    The governors decried the PDP’s style of leadership, assuring that the APC would offer a better leadership.

    Fashola, who drew a resounding ovation from the ecstatic crowd, described the APC as a great train of change. “We have set about a course that is irrevocably committed to giving power back to the people. We believe that Nigeria needs a change and APC will bring about that change”.

    Ajimobi noted that the PDP has gone from bad to worse, stressing that the only option left to salvage the nation is the APC.

    Shetima, said the exceptional performance of the APC governors is a pointer to their readiness to salvage Nigeria, urging the people to embrace the new party. “APC is on a rescue mission”, he added, enjoining the people of Imo State to support Okorocha.

    Amosun expressed delight at the huge turnout. Hailing Okorocha, he said that the people have not voted for him in vain.

    “This is what we want and this is what APC represents. The battle has just begun. APC must succeed for the benefit of Nigerians because there is no better platform”, he added.

    Al-Makura said the performance of Okorocha was just the beginning of what the people will witness, in terms of development, adding that it was worth celebrating. He urged the people to support the governor, especially now that the right party has emerged.

    “You cannot salvage the country with people who are fake; people who are pseudo-democrats,” he said.

    Fayemi said: “A time like this calls for visionary leaders as seen in all the states where the APC is holding sway. No amount of intimidation will deter us from working together to salvage the country.

    “No one is happy with what is going on. That is why we have embarked on this rescue mission; that is why we have embarked on the freedom journey”.

    Aregbesola, who held the surging crowd spell bound with his songs and dancing steps, described APC as a bulldozer that will crush everything on its path.

    He called on the people to reject unemployment, poverty, and hunger, which he said, PDP has unleashed on Nigerians.

    Oshiomole recalled that, when he led the workers’ protest to Imo State as a labour leader, he met a state with filthy streets, dilapidated infrastructure. “But now, everything in Imo State has changed”, he said.

    The governor called on the people to support Okorocha so that they can savour more dividends of democracy.

  • Okorocha returns from medical trip abroad

    Okorocha returns from medical trip abroad

    donates N.2m to driver of car who crashed in to his motorcade

    Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo on Tuesday in Owerri, donated N200,000 to Mr Patrick Nnewuihe, the driver of the Mercedes 200 Benz that collided with his motorcade in Orlu on April 12.

    Okorocha made the announcement at a news conference shortly after his arrival from Europe where he underwent treatment for the head injury he sustained in the accident.

    He said the money was donated to the man to enable him to repair his car which was damaged during the crash.

    The governor said he had returned to the state hale and hearty to continue with his work.

    He said that he had to travel out of the country for proper medical examination to really ascertain the condition of his head

    The governor thanked Imo people for praying for him, adding that his doctor confirmed him fit before coming back.

    Okorocha described the auto crash as “one out of a thousand cases of accidents that you find survivors”.

    He urged road users in the state to drive carefully, adding that if the incident could happen to a governor, it could as well happen to anybody on the road.

    The governor said that he had forgiven the owner of the car that ran into his motorcade, resulting in the accident and added that he had been released by the police.

    In his reaction, Nnwuihe apologised to the governor for what happened and thanked God for saving his life and that of the governor.(NAN)

  • Playing kite with corruption in Imo

    Playing kite with corruption in Imo

    That huge corruption thrives in Nigeria is no news. It rankles. It is sad that from the low class, through the middle class, to the elite, corruption seems to be the order of the day. But, it is sadder, when the ruling elite, the class projected on public beam, and meant to represent the interest of the people of the country, are also guilty of this malady. Particularly irksome to me is the current state of affairs in Imo State.

    I’m particularly worried about the malfeasance which caused the impeachment of Jude Agbaso, the erstwhile Imo deputy governor. Following an embittered relationship with his boss, Agbaso, upon impeachment recently by the Imo State of House of Assembly over a N458m bribe allegation, is singing like a canary. According to reports, the N458m kickback came from a Lebanese road contractor, Joseph Dina of JPROS International Nigeria Limited. His disclosure showed that discussions that probably took place in cosy sanctuaries and at odd hours is now out in the open and for all ears. It stinks of shady dealings in top places.

    The way it is, development is coming at a great cost to Imolites. Though, the state government maintains a public display of thriftiness and modesty, this might not really be the case with the governor at the helm of affairs. And if the words of the impeached deputy governor have any measure of truth, then, funds earmarked for development purposes in Imo have embarked on foreign trips. This is indeed a sad development.

    On the surface, Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, seems to be concerned about saving Imo State government funds. It never tires the governor to reiterate how he does not spend his ‘security’ vote on himself. Rather, he boasts of how he channels it towards developmental efforts. But, a tour around the state reveals a chaotic form of development, where things are perpetually in a state of work-in-progress. The truth be said: After his four-year term, Okorocha might just turn out to be another extravagant governor.

    And, while posterity has rubbished Agbaso by brandishing him as being corrupt, it remains to be confirmed if indeed that is the whole truth concerning the matter. This is because, like a wounded animal, Agbaso is attacking back. He is talking about complicity involving the use of state funds, which he says that even the governor, Okorocha, is aware of. According to the embittered deputy governor, Joseph Dina who has graft cases to answer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was made to implicate him.

    According to Agbaso in an interview, ‘Joseph Dina was specially sponsored to falsely confess that he gave me bribe. If not, how could a Lebanese, who had had series of graft cases with the EFCC since 2009, boldly come out in the open to confess that he used up to 46 per cent of fully paid contract sum from Imo people’s money to give me bribe? It is unbelievable.’

    On the other hand, how could I collect such an amount from a man I never did any favour for and was not in a position to do any favour for?’

    Agbaso had said, ‘An aide of Governor Rochas Okorocha, Prince MacDonald-Akano, who is the governor’s Special Adviser and Chairman of the Committee on Monitoring and Implementation of Road Projects in Imo State, was made a shareholder in JPROS International Nigeria Ltd. on June 20, 2012 and allotted two million shares of the company’s 10 million shares.’

    Following his impeachment, Agbaso and his family enlisted the services of private investigators. According to him, the N458m purportedly paid to him was traced and it was found out that the money was paid in two tranches through private foreign bank accounts in Dubai and London. The investigation, Agbaso said, also revealed that the accounts in which the money was paid into belonged to Three Bother Concept Nig. Ltd and IHSAN Bureau De Change Limited. Defending himself, Agbaso said he had no links and had no relationship with any of the companies.

    Agbaso also said it was the governor that paid the contractor an initial N200m from his office. Again, if close aides to Okorocha are in the thick of the matter and if the ousted deputy maintains that any money missing can be explained by the governor, then, something is definitely fishy. What is it? Could the governor be complicit? Or is it merely a case of pot calling kettle black and making the kettle pay for being black?

    It takes two to tango. And a leopard does not develop spots overnight. Surely, Agbaso and Okorocha were buddies before things turned sour. And both of them, to an extent, know about the deals going in Imo State. To have power is sweet as people obey your words. But, those in power should realise that it intoxicates. And the outcome is not too rosy. In his cries, Agbaso had said his impeachment also had to do with the politics of 2015.

    I know Nigerian politics is one of strange bedfellows; hence, there is no way Agbaso cannot come out clean. But, the fact is that there are certain things which are not right. For one, Agbaso fingered his aide for being made a director in the company only last July. Is investigation going on in that direction? In addition, there was so much hurry to prosecute Agbaso. Why? Has the phony ‘construction equipment’ rant by the company been investigated? It would be difficult for Okorocha to claim not to have knowledge of how the disputed money went.

    In the Imo financial conundrum, it seems Agabso is just being used as the sacrificial lamb by a gang of corrupt politicians. While Agbaso really deserves little pity, the situation is not fair. More eyes should be cast on other implicated persons, even if they are friends and cronies of the governor. Even, if it is the governor himself.

     

    • Nduka writes from Owerri

     

  • Imo to mark Freedom Day

    Imo State government has disclosed plans to celebrate what it described as ‘Imo Freedom Day’ as well as the second year anniversary of Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    The planning committee chaired by the Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere has lined up several activities that will ensure maximum participation of Imo people in the event which will commence on May 6 and culminate into two-year anniversary celebration of the Okorocha-led rescue mission administration on May 29.

    Okorocha urged political appointees to ensure that Imo people are well mobilised for the event.

    The governor noted that much has been achieved in the area of infrastructural development and other critical sectors which will be show-cased to the people during the celebration.

    In his remarks, the Mayor of Owerri, Dr. Kachi Nwoga used the occasion to intimate the governor with what his committee has done so far preparatory to the launching of the New Imo Projects.

    Those projects, he said, include the physical environment, repainting of structures in identical patterns, relocation of artisans to industrial clusters and re-organising various motor parks.

     

  • Imo to build relief market

    Imo to build relief market

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has said that a relief market would be built in Owerri to accommodate traders who had no shops at the Eke-Ukwu Market.

    Okorocha, who made the announcement when he paid an unscheduled visit to Eke-Ukwu and New Market in Owerri, promised to construct all roads in the markets.

    The governor also promised the traders that government would provide electricity, bore holes and street lights in the markets to boost their businesses.

    He said that with the construction of the relief market, street trading would be abolished in Owerri, since traders without shops in other markets would now be accommodated.

    Okorocha also told traders at the new market that government would re-roof the market before the rains set in.

    The governor admitted that street trading was a big problem in the state capital.

    He promised to supervise the election of the Owerri Market Traders’ Association, scheduled for next month.

    He said the two markets had been granted community status and that a liaison officer would be appointed to liaise between them.

    On waste management in the markets, he directed the traders to buy cellophane bags for the collection and disposal of wastes generated on daily basis.

    The governor said that a football competition would be organised for markets in the state , adding that a new bus and two million naira had been set aside for winners of the trophy.

     

  • Imo: Chief of Staff sworn-in as Deputy governor

    The former Chief of Staff to Imo state governor, Prince Eze Madumere has been sworn-in as the new Deputy Governor of the state.
    Madumere replaces Sir Jude Agbaso who was impeached during the week by the  State House of Assembly for allegedly  demanding as gratification from Mr. Joseph Dina, the Managing Director of JPROS Int’l Ltd, a Lebanese company handling some of the major road projects in the state.
    Governor Rochas Okorocha urged the new deputy governor to discharge his duties diligently and selflessly.
    He urged Madmere not to be found wanting in his new position advising that “For you to succeed in this job, you must think less of yourself and think more of the people. You must never think of the next election but the future of the next generation.

    “You must also hate the idea of primitive accumulation of wealth. Let me say to all of you that a day must come when all of us must bow before God; a day that need no EFCC, no Police and Army to stand on issue of accountability. So, be guided by the fear of God knowing that one day, this job will end”.
    The governor described the circumstance that led to the removal of the former deputy governor as unfortunate, adding that his relationship with Sir Jude Agbaso remains cordial.
    ” I have to miss the former deputy governor, Sir Jude Agbaso whom I worked with and whom I have very unique love for. The circumstances that led to his removal are very unfortunate and I want to use this opportunity to wish him well in his future endeavor”.
    Earlier in his speech, the new deputy governor promised to remain focused and committed to the doctrines of  the  Okorocha-led Rescue Mission administration.