Okorocha accuses Ihedioha of witch-hunt, denies culpability in N6b ISOPADEC funds sleaze

Former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has accused Governor Emeka Ihedioha of a witch-hunt, following his alleged embezzlement of N6 billion meant for Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC).

Okorocha, the state’s immediate past governor, was on Wednesday indicted by a panel set up by the state government.

In a statement, Okorocha’s Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, said that his principal was not culpable.

The statement read: “Nigerians, especially Imo people, should note that between May 29, 2019, when Chief Emeka Ihedioha was inaugurated as governor and today, he has not done any other thing in Imo than fighting his predecessor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, and the family. And part of the unwarranted wars against Okorocha was the so-called ISOPADEC report, which claimed that the former governor diverted N6 billion of the commission’s fund, and the panel never gave details of how it arrived at that.

“Again, not minding that Ihedioha’s government had written 32 petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and 15 to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) against Okorocha and the family, the questionable panel on ISOPADEC was just a smokescreen because a serious panel would have invited the former governor or any of the former chairmen or managing directors of the commission under Okorocha for questioning or fact-finding. But the panel never did that because it was only packaged for blackmail.”

According to Okorocha, Governor Ihedioha made a lot of promises to Imo people and has not fulfilled any.

“With all the noise about pension, he has only paid three months. Nothing is working in the state. Kidnapping is back. Traffic jam is back. Refuse heaps are also back to the state capital.

“This is not what Imo people bargained for after Okorocha had taken the state to an enviable height in all aspects of governance. The PDP government in the State has taken Imo backward,” he added.