Uzodimma to Okorocha: ‘You’re a liar, Imo State owes N312bn’

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of plundering the state and exposing Imo to a debt burden of over N312 billion.

But, Okorocha maintained that his administration does not owe any bank the governorship race. His words: “At a point, the political class in Imo was utterly challenged by the maladministration of the state under Okorocha and it became imperative for me to join the governorship race and salvage the situation.

I love the business of law making, opting to leave Senate for the governorship of Imo State was a necessary sacrifice for the sake of my state. “Presently, the state under Governor Okorocha is indebted to the tune of N312 billion, and over 118 garnishee judgements against it to the extent that funds accruing to Imo State are deducted at source to service the debts in compliance with the garnishee orders.

“Regrettably, when you look around the state, you find nothing on ground to suggest that Imo had borrowed a whopping N312 billion from November 2015 till date.” Uzodinma further berated the governor for running the state without consultations with stakeholders and administering Imo as a private estate.

“Okorocha has never convoked a meeting involving federal lawmakers, Senators representing the state and critical stakeholders. We have never had such forum where the governor sat with the senators, House of Representatives members and other stakeholders to discuss Imo and chart a way forward for the state.

“For him, government and governance of Imo State is all about him and his family. It, therefore, needs no saying that Governor Okorocha has burnt his bridges and squandered his goodwill across the state and beyond,” Uzodinma said.

He also used the opportunity to react to Okorocha’s claims during the governor’s campaign flag off for his Imo West senatorial bid in Orlu, where he said that Uzodinma had wasted eight years in the Senate, achieved nothing substantial for Imo West senatorial district, and as such knew that his (Okorocha’s) entry into the race was the end of the road for him.

Uzodinma stated that Okorocha has never been his match and will never be in any electoral contest. He said: “I won and served two terms in spite of the machinations of Okorocha who supported rival candidates.

He has been trying to undermine me for the last eight years and has been failing because by far, he is not my match in political contests. I can tell you without any iota of doubt, that if I contest for the Imo West Senate seat five times, I will beat Okorocha five times.

“In his characteristic style, the governor was bent on giving APC ticket to his son in-law, but we had to stop him, so we stepped in to give our people a voice in their own government,” Uzodinma said.