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Tag: Rochas Okorocha

  • Okorocha seeks probe of NNPC’s missing fund

    Okorocha seeks probe of NNPC’s missing fund

    IMO State Governor Rochas Okorocha has urged the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) to investigate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the alleged non-remittance of $20 billion to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Okorocha spoke in Owerri, the state capital, when he received the National Executive Members of ICAN at the Government House.

    The governor described ICAN as one of the most critical professions that could reduce corruption and misappropriation of public funds in the society.

    He urged the body to intervene in the financial problems facing the nation, especially unaccounted funds in some organisations.

    Okorocha said he was ready to partner the institute to establish a befitting secretariat in the state.

    He hailed members of the institute for their decision to build a secretariat in Imo State and promised to provide the land and financial assistance to realise the project.

    ICAN President Kabir Alkali Mohammed hailed the governor for his exemplary leadership style.

    He said the governor was dedicated to the collective interest of the people and committed to honesty, transparency and accountability.

     

    He extolled the Governor for appointing some members of their Institute in his cabinet and appealed for more of such appointments.

    Kabir, who stated that they were on tour of the 48 District Societies of the Institute to strengthen professionalism, disclosed that the strategic position of Owerri in the Southeast region of the country necessitated the Institute’s resolve to build a secretariat in Owerri.

    He said the secretariat would provide such facilities as conducive examination halls, library services for the students and offices.

    The ICAN boss further solicited the state government’s assistance in providing a plot of land and logistics to facilitate the building.

     

  • PDP agent of disunity, says Hausa community

    THE Hausa community in Imo State has slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for its allegation that Governor Rochas Okorocha is camping and training Boko Haram members ahead of next year’s elections.

    It said such allegation could disrupt peace.

    PDP, at a news conference, accused Okorocha of converting a government facility, Imo College of Advanced Professional Studies (ICAPS), to a training ground for Boko Haram members, who were allegedly brought into the state from Kano, Katsina and Kaduna.

    But the leader of the Hausa community (Sarikin Hausawa), Alhaji Baba Saidu Suleman, during a visit to the Chairman, Imo State Council of ‘Ndi-Eze’, Eze Samuel Agunwa Ohiri, at his palace in Owerri, said the inciting allegation was fabricated by the party to create disaffection between Muslims and Christians.

    He said after investigation, it was discovered that the allegation was false, baseless and unfounded, adding that it was fabricated to dent the governor’s image, that of the Hausa community and create fear among residents.

    Suleman said the malicious report was the handiwork of agents of disunity, who were unhappy about the cordial relationship between the Hausa and the indigenes.

    He added that the false information against the governor should be disregarded.

    Thanking the people and government for their love despite the activities of mischievous politicians, Suleman assured that the Hausa community would remain law-abiding.

    He hailed Okorocha for the appointment of Hausa people in his government and his achievements, especially in free education and infrastructure.

    Ohiri lauded the Hausa for not taking the law into their hands, saying their visit had demonstrated the peace and unity between them and the indigenes.

    He assured that government and rulers would not allow anything that would disrupt peace.

    The monarch said he would invite PDP chieftains to investigate the veracity of their allegation.

  • Photo of the day: Jonathan, Okorocha, Almakura, Babangida

    Photo of the day: Jonathan, Okorocha, Almakura, Babangida

    President Goodluck Jonathan, Imo State Governor Owelle Rocha Okorocha, Nasarawa State Governor Alhaji Tanko Almakura and Niger State Governor Alhaji Babangida Aliyu during the National Council of State meeting at the State House Abuja yesterday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN

    President Goodluck Jonathan, Imo State Governor Owelle Rocha Okorocha, Nasarawa State Governor Alhaji Tanko Almakura and Niger State Governor Alhaji Babangida Aliyu during the National Council of State meeting at the State House Abuja Tuesday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN
    President Goodluck Jonathan, Imo State Governor Owelle Rocha Okorocha, Nasarawa State Governor Alhaji Tanko Almakura and Niger State Governor Alhaji Babangida Aliyu during the National Council of State meeting at the State House Abuja Tuesday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN
  • Okorocha: Ignore zoning

    Okorocha: Ignore zoning

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha has urged leaders in the state to ignore zoning in electing the next governor.

    He advised them to consider the quality of the candidates.

    Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House, Owerri, the governor, who is from Orlu zone, said: “Let he, who can deliver the dividends of democracy, rule, irrespective of his zone. It is only a man with great vision, who can bring about change, who should be voted for,” he added.

    Okorocha also admonished the leaders to place the state on the path of positive change, by allowing the will of the masses to prevail during elections.

    He said emphasis should be on public interest, instead of personal gain, in the choice of a governor, adding that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not the best choice for the Southeast, as it had turned Ndigbo into the minority.

    The governor said it was regrettable that the Southeast had never had its share in terms of federal projects and appointments and enjoined leaders to re-align with the All Progressives Congress (APC), which he said would give Ndigbo the opportunity of producing the president.

  • Okorocha to Ihedioha: Join APC now and save your job

    Okorocha to Ihedioha: Join APC now and save your job

    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State yesterday advised the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to enable him retain his position in the House.

    The governor who was addressing Southeast leaders of the APC at the Ahajioku Convention Centre in Owerri, the state capital, said that the party would assume leadership of the House of Representatives once it resumes from recess this week.

    Ihedioha is from Imo State.

    The governor said: “I have advised my brother, the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, to move and join the APC to retain his position for the Ndigbo. I don’t care who occupies the position so long as he is an Igbo man. I have said and will continue to say that APC is the best option for Ndigbo and we must embrace it.”

    Okorocha also said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida, and other past leaders of the country are in full support of the APC.

    He said that they are all impressed by the performance of the APC and are watching political development in the country.

    Okorocha also slammed political leaders from Anambra State, accusing them of sabotaging the efforts of Ndigbo in producing the country’s president.

    He said: “Anambra is the major problem of Ndigbo. At every election, some leaders from Anambra will go behind the zone and collect money and contracts from the federal government and sell out Ndigbo for their selfish ends. But we must resist them now.”In APC Ndigbo must produce either the vice president or the president or the other way round in 2015 but we must be united to achieve this. We must work together as a crop of new leaders to move Ndigbo forward unlike what happened in the past when Igbo leaders were not united.”

     

  • ‘How Imo spent Fed Govt’s allocation’

    ‘How Imo spent Fed Govt’s allocation’

    Imo State Commissioner for Finance Deacon Chike Okafor explained yesterday how the Federal Government’s allocation accruing to the state in the last two and a half years was spent.

    The commissioner, who was responding to a call on Governor Rochas Okorocha by the Supervising Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri, to give account for the state’s resources, said government invested an average of N1.285 billion in infrastructure in the 27 local governments.

    Giving a breakdown, Okafor said government built 10 schools in each council for N27.5 million, a modern hospital in each council for N110 million and a 15-kilometre road in the councils for N60 million.

    He said government consistently paid council workers, primary school teachers and pensions of retirees at a wage bill of over N2.1 billion.

    “With the visible achievements of this administration, there would have been no need to respond, but as the manager of the treasury, the burden is on me to set the records straight.”

    Okafor added: “While we invite and encourage honest, responsible and issue-based criticisms, we must stand up to discourage propaganda and falsehood.

     

  • Rochas Okorocha now a grandfather

    Rochas Okorocha now a grandfather

    APART from the political success which the governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has recorded, these are definitely the best of moments for him as his first daughter, Uloma, who got married last year January to Uche Nwosu, a serving commissioner for Land Survey and Urban Planning, has welcomed twins.

    The wedding which was carnival-like drew who-is-who in the country. The marriage was consummated at the Holy Cross Catholic Church, in Owerri, capital of Imo State, following the traditional wedding at the bride’s family home in Ogboko, 3 January. Nwosu, we gathered, had been having an affair with Uloma before he was appointed commissioner.

    Uloma Nwosu is the Director General of her father’s foundation, Rochas Okorocha Foundation.

  • Okorocha’s daughter delivered of twins

    Okorocha’s daughter delivered of twins

    About one year after a talk-of-the-town wedding that brought Nigeria’s creme de la creme under one roof on January 5, 2012, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha’s eldest daughter, Uloma Nwosu, has been delivered of a set of twins in the United States of America. The families of Uloma’s husband, Uche, and that of the governor’s daughter have been in joyous mood since the twins arrived.

    Uloma got married to one of her father’s trusted commissioners, Uche, about a year ago. Uche is said to have a long-standing relationship with the Imo first family. He was said to have functioned as Okorocha’s personal assistant even before he became a governor. He was appointed the Commissioner for Lands, Survey & Urban Development in the state when Okorocha took the mantle of leadership in the state that prides itself as the Eastern Heartland.

    Uloma heads the Rochas Okorocha Foundation.

  • ‘Nigerians have long yearned for change’

    Imo State Governor and the Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha has said the speed and excitement with which Nigerians from all the geo-political zones in the country and from other political parties have been defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), was an indication that Nigerians had long desired change. He added that the APC is determined to provide that change.

    Okorocha who spoke at the Government House, Owerri when some political stakeholders in the Southeast geo-political zone visited him, explained that for the first time in the political history of the country, members of other political parties, including the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would be defecting to a party that is not in power at the centre.

    According to him, the way people from all the geo-political zones have been trooping into the APC, the party has become the most visible national political party at the moment. This, he said, is an indication that Nigerians had been groaning in silence for change all these years. He commended the former chairman of the PDP in Kaduna State Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama, former commissioners in the state and a host of others who recently defected to the APC, describing the APC as a moving train every patriotic Nigerian must be desirous to catch up with.

    Governor Okorocha also urged governors on the platform of other political parties, and members of the National Assembly who want to join the APC to do so without further delay, adding that court action being taken by the PDP against some of the governors who defected to APC was aimed at discouraging others who intend to join the party.

    He noted that the law is very clear on elected officers who want to defect to another political party.

    Governor Okorocha also used the opportunity to call on all politicians in the Southeast zone to read the political handwriting on the wall and make hay while the sun shines, even as he remarked that those who have the interest of the Igbo at heart and who want Igbo land to develop should hasten to join the APC.

    Responding, Chief Moses Izuka Mboji said the coming on board of APC was timely and said the Igbo have a bright future in APC, especially with Governor Okorocha’s leading role in the party.

  • APGA lacks power to recall Okorocha, says APC

    APGA lacks power to recall Okorocha, says APC

    All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State has decried the threat by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to recall Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    It said the party lacks the power and backing to do so.

    APGA in Imo State threatened to recall Okorocha and the House of Assembly members elected on its platform for defecting to the APC.

    But the state Coordinator of APC, Prince Okafor Anyanwu, said those behind the threat were seeking cheap publicity, adding that “it is only the electorate who can recall Okorocha.”

    According to him, “any person planning a recall should first check the number of votes they have. APGA does not have the members to recall Okorocha.

    “It was an amalgamated arrangement by the people, who were yearning for a change and they are the ones who can recall him. The people threatening just want to be heard.”

    Anyanwu noted: “I was the state chairman of APGA and I had a record of over 300,000 registered members. When we defected to APC, we took them along. So, where do they have the voters to initiate a recall?”

    He said Okorocha’s emergence as chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum has justified their position that the APC would improve the political lot of the people.

    His words: “Okorocha’s position as chairman of the Progressive Governor’s Forum has proved that APC is not a regional party. It is for all Nigerians, irrespective of religion and ethnicity.”