The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Okorocha

  • Okorocha greets BBN winner

    Imo state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has congratulated  the winner of the Big Brother Naija Reality Show, Mr. Miracle Igbokwe.

    Miracle is an indigene of Imo state.

    The governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary,  Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, described Miracle, as a good ambassador of the state, adding  that he was not surprised that he ended up being the winner of the show.

    He commended him for conducting himself well for the 12 weeks the entertaining event lasted.

    The governor disclosed that the State Government would give Miracle the attention he deserves and commended him for the good remarks he made about the free and qualitative education in the state.

    He equally commended the organizers of the event for coming up with such youth  oriented show.

  • Okorocha: Udenwa, Ohakim left office broke

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has justified his plan to build houses for former Governors Ikedi Ohakim, Achike Udenwa, Evans Enwerem and the late Sam Mbakwe.

    According to him, the former governors left office poor, contrary to perception.

    Okorocha spoke at a breakfast meeting with reporters in Owerri.

    He said it was wrong to conclude that the former governors left office rich.

    None of the former governors, he noted, could be adjudged “rich by any standard after their tenures”.

    The governor noted that the initiative is to encourage people on the need to appreciate and honour past leaders, saying “having governed the state at one time or the other, they deserve to be appreciated’.

    He said: ‘Where is the wealth Sam Mbakwe was said to have accumulated for which he was imprisoned? Where is the wealth today? You need to see what the children are going through. Where is the wealth Enwerem, or Udenwa or Ohakim were said to have acquired?

    “Look around and show me where this wealth said to have been accumulated by the former governors is. It is not true. The problem lies with the perception of people. They have the feeling that once you are a governor, you must have gotten the franchise to acquire wealth, which is far from reality.”

  • No PVC, no salary –Okorocha tells workers

    HENCEFORTH, no one can carry out any form of business activity or access any form of government services including social and health services without a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) in Imo State, the state government has said, adding: ” No indigene above the age of 18 will also be admitted into any of the state owned schools without a PVC.” The governor, Rochas Okorocha said his administration will embark on “operation show your PVC” for the indigenes of the state as a condition to engage in socioeconomic activities.

    The governor who gave the hint when he met with journalists at the Government House Owerri, Thursday, said that the measure is necessitated by the “nonchallant attitude exhibited by indigenes in collecting their PVCs. He described the people’s indifference to having their PVC as disturbing. According to him, “the government is going to initiate the policy of operation show your PVC before you can enter the market to buy or sell and before you can do business or get anything from the government, and before your child can be admitted in schools.

    Even before one receives salary from the government, he or she must show his or her PVC. We cannot allow the I don’t care attitude of our people towards the exercise to continue unchecked.” The governor regretted that a lot of adults in the state are not showing interest in collecting their PVC “which would qualify them to play a key role in electing deserving representatives and leaders of their choice and also enable them to contribute their quota towards strengthening our democracy”.

    He said, “it is very unfortunate that adults would wait until they are compelled to go for their PVCs, when they should as a matter of civic responsibility, scramble for it.” The governor noted that “majority of those concerned are those in the markets who erroneously feel that it is a waste of time to take some hours to go for their PVCs.” He charged churches to also help in telling the worshippers the need to have their PVCs as responsible citizens, adding that the campaign the government had mounted on the importance of collecting the PVCs, “has not yielded the much desired result and that is the reason the government has decided to adopt new measures.”

  • Nwosu’s critics are uninformed – Okorocha

    Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday rose in defense of the governorship ambition of his Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, insisting that he has not flouted any law by aspiring to govern the state.

    The governor said “Nwosu is not being maligned because he is not qualified to govern the state or has any negative security report against him except that he is married to my daughter and therefore should be disqualified.”

    Okorocha, who spoke during a media parley with journalists at the Government House, Owerri, maintained that Nwosu is the only aspirant among his political followers who can provide the kind of leadership that would not discriminate against any part of the state.

    He said: “I don’t want a governor of Okigwe, Owerri or Orlu zone. I want an Imo governor whose governorship will reflect on all the zones.”

    According to the governor, the criticisms that trailed the endorsement of Nwosu’s governorship ambition by the local government areas in the state made him the most popular aspirant in the state.

    Okorocha added: “Nwosu has not done anything contrary to the constitution of the country that forbids him from running for governor or any other position. I have gone through the constitution and the Electoral Act and I did not see anywhere the issue of son in-law is mentioned as a condition that will determine who is qualified to run for election.”

     

     

  • Senator berated for ‘fighting’ Okorocha

    The Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Acho Ihim, has berated Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu (Imo North) for fighting Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    Ihim described Uwajumogu as “an ungrateful politician who chose to bite the finger that fed him”.

    According to him, Uwajumogu should be grateful and loyal to the governor for contributing to his emergence as a senator, instead of repaying him in a “bad coin” by working at cross purposes with the ideals of the Rescue Mission administration.

    Ihim, who addressed reporters in his office, said: “In 2011, we were all elected into the House of Assembly and by the grace of God, and the governor’s influence, Uwajumogu became the Speaker, though he was not a ranking member. The rules were relaxed for him because of the governor.

    “When he rounded up his tenure, Uwajumogu ran for the Senate but lost, we all went back to the trenches and ensured that he won during the rerun. The governor put in all he had and Uwajumogu finally emerged as a Senator. But shortly after that, what did we see; he became the enemy of that same family that made him.

    “He ostracised the people that put him into power. Today, he now sees himself as someone that made himself from nowhere. He now sees the governor and the entire family as people not wise enough. He should come back to the family where he truly belongs. He should not be an ingrate.

    “Without Okorocha he won’t be where he is today. Several years he contested but never won, and the first time he came to the House of Assembly, he was made the Speaker because of the governor’s efforts. It is too bad for him to start vilifying the man that made him, it is not proper, he should return and beg for forgiveness and I know that the governor will forgive him. I felt it is high time I spoke out and call a spade a spade.”

  • Nwosu will win in 2019, says Okorocha

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has assured supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that his Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, will win the 2019 governorship election.

    Okorocha said his support for Nwosu followed his conviction that he will be a good governor, judging by his acceptability  in the three zones.

    The governor, who spoke when political leaders, women and youth groups, traditional rulers came to endorse Nwosu at the Government House, said he would want to hand over to a governor, who will be fair to all zones.

    Okorocha reiterated that Nwosu will win, irrespective of objections from political ‘bigwigs’, saying the power to elect a governor resides with the people and not a few elite and godfathers.

    He said: “I have no doubt that Nwosu will win the governorship election, considering his pedigree and humble background. Nwosu has learnt the ropes and is better qualified than any other aspirant.

    “He is the least of the political children I trained, but I don’t know any of them as much as I have known Nwosu. I took him up when he was just nobody and he grew to the height he is now; his only sin is that he is my son-in-law.”

  • Okorocha performs ground-breaking ceremony of Lord Chosen’s varsity

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha last week performed the ground-breaking ceremony of The Chosen Crown University owned by The Lord Chosen’s Church.

    He described the location of the institution in Mgbidi, Imo State as an answer to prayers and his pleas to well-meaning indigenes to establish more private universities.

    Okorocha reiterated the declaration that the state is in dire need of not less than 20 universities to make education an industry.

    The governor praised founder of The Lord’s Chosen Church, Pastor Lazarus Muoka, as a blessing to the generation.

    He said: “What is good is good. I salute the courage of Pastor Muoka. He loves his people otherwise he would have chosen to site the university in any other part of the country.

    “He has just answered my clarion Call on education. With this university he has also brought development to complement the Urban Renewal Programme of the government.”

    The governor, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, went on: “Whatever we can do to encourage this project, we must do it.

    “University puts a community in the map of the World and brings landmark development.

    “We shall support you for it to be completed and fast-track the registration. We are also ready to donate school as its temporary site”.

    The governor earlier provided land and N10million for the church to clear the site of the university.

    Muoka assured the university will be one of the best in the country and produce quality graduates that can raise their heads anywhere in the world.

  • Okorocha offers automatic employment to outstanding corps member

    Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday gave automatic employment to the most outstanding corps member, Umeotawara Lauretta Ebere, for the 2017 Batch A (Stream 1) deployed to the state for the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC).

    The governor, who announced the gesture in Owerri at the passing out ceremony of the 1,542 Corps members deployed to the state, also gave the lucky corps member a cash sum of N200,000.

    Other corps members also benefitted from the governor’s benevolence as they got N10, 000 each as transport fare to their respective states.

    The governor commended the corps members for their impressive performance during the service year, pledging to provide additional accommodation of 2,000 capacity for corps members posted to the state.

    He said: “You are the hope of future generation and I urge you are not to be found wanting in character and in conduct wherever you are and to be employers of labour instead of job seekers because of the non availability of white collar jobs in the country.”

    The state Coordinator of the NYSC, Josephine Bakare Uche, in her address, said a total of 615 male corps members and 927 females participated in the programme.

     

  • Okorocha: Achuzia was a pillar of the Igbo

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has described the late civil war veteran, Col. Joe Achuzie, as a “great pillar of the Igbo race”.

    The governor spoke yesterday when Achuzie’s children visited him at the Government House in Owerri to inform him of the funeral.

    Okorocha, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, said: “The late Achuzie was a strong believer in the unity of Nigeria and the Igbo race. One cannot talk about the Igbo without mentioning Col. Achuzie.

    “I met the deceased and even in his old age, he looked strong like a military man who was ready to go to combat.

    “Col. Achuzie was very close to Governor Okorocha, and the governor has asked me to condole with the family. By the grace of God, he will be at the burial. He also asked me to present a token of N5 million from the government to the family to help with burial expenses.

    “We condole with the family and may his soul rest in peace.”

    The deceased’s second son, Simeon Achuzie, thanked the governor for the gesture.

  • I have nothing against Catholic Church – Okorocha

    Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, said on Wednesday he has done nothing to pitch the Catholic Church against the All Progressives Congress (APC) as alleged by the  Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu.

    The governor insisted that he has instead shown amazing love and unbridled respect for the Archbishop of Owerri Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. Anthony Obinna and “has no problem of any kind with the Catholic Church.”

    He also made a donation of N100 million for the completion of the Okigwe Catholic Diocese Cathedral.

    Okechukwu had accused Okorocha of pitting the Catholic Church against the APC apparently over the governor’s statement that the Archibishop of Owerri cannot install a governor of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) extraction in 2019.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said in a statement made available to journalists that “the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, had accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of pitting the Catholic Church against APC without explaining how he arrived at such claim.

    “Mr. Okechukwu is one of those who have the erroneous feeling that the only way they can grow in APC is by attacking or pulling down Governor Rochas Okorocha and he has been doing it religiously without any response from us.

    “Governor Okorocha has shown amazing love and unbridled respect to Archbishop Obinna and has no problem of any kind with the Catholic Church. And what Governor Okorocha has done for the Catholic Diocese of Owerri, no past governor whether civilian or military had done it for them. Let anybody say it is not true. And if Mr. Okechukwu had participated or followed events in the 2015 election he would have understood better.

    “Don’t forget that President Muhammadu Buhari got only 14,157 votes in Enugu State where the DG comes from, and got 133,253 in Imo not minding that Imo was the target of the PDP-led Federal Government’s onslaught in the 2015 election with thousands of soldiers and other security agencies besieging the state.

    “If the governor didn’t mean well, he would not have taken President Buhari to the Archbishop. But two days after that visit, the Leader Newspaper owned by the Archbishop had a banner headline, Alhaji in Government House. The name Okoro-Hausa also came from the same source.

    “And if the campaign of the PDP and a section of the Church that Buhari and Rochas would Islamize the South-East if APC wins didn’t get to Enugu State it means the presence of the party in the state was never considered a threat. But in Imo, that was the major campaign. Mr. Okechukwu won’t understand because he was contended with his much talked about relationship with the President.”