IMO State Government yesterday, affirmed that it
deliberately abandoned the mountain of smelly refuse
along the ever busy Douglas Road, Owerri, to get back at
the indigenes who have been fighting the administration.
Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS,
Mr. Samuel Onwuemeodo, made the disclosure during an
early morning public accountability phone-in programme
anchored by Hot 99.5 FM, Owerri.
“Government deliberately abandoned the refuse along
Douglas Road, Owerri, to get back at Owerri people who
have been battling the state government, over the
relocation of the market”, Onwuemeodo said.
The Governor’s CPS, who poured invectives on the
leadership and indigenes of Owerri municipality, also
fumed that “Owerri people must be made to understand
that they cannot eat their cake and have it.”
He further explained that “there is a court order
restraining government from tampering with the market
and this also explains why we left the refuse.”
Most of the citizens who called into the programme,
described the abandonment of the huge refuse as “a
damnable plot to inflict hardship and disease on the
people and not to respect a court order.”
A caller, who simply identified himself as Amanze,
wondered why and how a government should
deliberately hoist pain and disease on its people, in a
democracy.
“From what the Governor’s Press Secretary has said, it is
now very clear that the palpable hatred which Owerri
people have been complaining about is real,” Amanze
said.
While recalling that Owerri used to be the cleanest city in
Nigeria, Amanze, however, said that “the Governor must
hate Owerri so much to allow this level of devastation
and dirt in the city.”
My Deputy not incoming Governor of Imo —Okorocha
Meantime, the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has
said that his Deputy, Eze Madumere will not succeed him
as the next Governor of the state, even as he said that
those who will assume the leadership of the state in 2019
will be politicians who are “rescue mission compliant.”
Okorocha spoke yesterday at Concord Hotel, Owerri,
during the launch of the book written by Mr Peter Clever
titled: Eze Madumere: A True Manifestation of a Loyal
Prince.”
He said: “I have not decided who will be the next
Governor of Imo state. I want to also tell you that, this is
not a launch for a path for Madumere as the incoming
governor of the state. I want to say this before you start
to distort the political landscape of Imo State.
“But he is my son in whom I am well pleased. I have
confidence in him. The joy of an aging father is to see
the son rising.”
Kano Governor urges him to shun sycophants
Also speaking at the book launch, the Kano State
Governor, Abdulahi Umar Ganduje, has advised his
counterpart Governor Rochas Okorocha, to desist from
listening to sycophants if he wants to go far in
governance.
“For you as a governor to succeed in the affairs of
governance, you must shun sycophants. Sycophancy is a
deadly disease in government. It is HIV in governance.”
On his opinion about the Deputy Governor of Imo State,
Prince Eze Madumere, he said: “I congratulate you for
being loyal to your governor and also for the confidence
the governor reposes in you.”
However, he said that deputy governors should act
according to the situation they found themselves and
not to engage in any activity that would undermine the
relationship they have with their superiors.
“With what we have seen today, you have helped and are
still helping to move Imo State forward. I am happy that,
what has been written is an honest contribution of the
deputy governor to the development of the entire state.
The subject of the book has portrayed your loyalty to the
governor,” he said.
Okorocha snatched Imo from political hyenas —Akintola
Also speaking at the book launch, a lawyer and Senior
Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Adeniyi Akintola said that the
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, snatched the
State from political “hyenas.”
“Okorocha snatched the patrimony of Imo State from
political hyenas who are busy feeding their stomach,”
adding that, he could go ahead in explaining how
Okorocha started with his deputy.
“ I consider it as a great honour to come and chair the
occasion of a book launch written in honour of the
Deputy Governor of Imo state, Prince Eze Madumere,“ he
said.