12th August, 2011
The Association of Imo Indigenes in Lagos State, AIIL, has urged Governor Rochas Okorocha to probe the past administration in the state led by Chief Ikedi Ohakim.
Addressing newsmen, the chairman of the group, Chief Isaac Udeh, said there was need to probe all financial transactions of the immediate past government, especially the dredging of Nworie River in Owerri which was said to have gulped billions of naira.
Udeh said the incumbent state governors will be doing a disservice to their states if they fail to probe past projects of their predecessors to ensure accountability to the people.
He said the general apathy towards the immediate past administration in Imo State and the obvious preference for Okorocha resulted from promises that were not kept.
“Each year, we were told of projects that will gulp millions of naira and at the end of the year, the budget would have been utilised on invisible projects. We equally want to know the circumstances surrounding the alleged leasing of the Imo Concord Hotel, the utilisation of the over N150,000 charged students of the Imo State University and road contracts that were not executed’’ he said.
He averred that the Ohakim administration never lived up to the expectations of the people, adding that they must be told how their allocation was used.
The AIIL chairman lamented the decision of most governors not to probe their predecessors, insisting that those who condone corruption were worse than the actual perpetrators.
He disclosed the plan by the association to go to court if the present administration in Imo State does not head the people’s demand for a probe of Ohakim’s administration.
Udeh used the opportunity to commend Okorocha for his free education programme in the state and for reducing the fees paid by Imo State University students to less than N40,000.