PDP urges Imo governor to publish state’s financial accounts

Insists govt withdrew N17b in four days
Imo State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged Governor Rochas Okorocha to publish a complete statement of account since he has denied withdrawing N17 billion from the state coffers in the last four days.

In a statement issued yesterday by the state Publicity Secretary, Damian Opara, the party insisted that Okorocha directed withdrawal of the said amount from different bank accounts, adding that it was ready to prove the claim.

Okorocha had through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, denied the claim, asking if the state has such amount considering its low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“The attention of PDP in Imo State has been drawn to a rejoinder by outgoing Governor of Imo State, Okorocha on his withdrawal of N17 billion within the last four days.

“We are not surprised that the governor, in his usual smart-by-half attitude, deliberately avoided the serious issues raised by our party, to throw tantrums and engage in name calling.

“For emphasis, we insist that, within the last four days, Okorocha has made huge cash withdrawals from various banks amounting to N17billion.

“And we challenge him to publish the financial status, including a comprehensive statement of account of Imo State, to buttress his defence as that is the only evidence we will accept as the truth,” the statement reads.

The party wondered why Okorocha swooped on the governor-elect, Emeka Ihedioha, casting aspersions on him, instead addressing the issue.

“Now that Okorocha has decided to question Ihedioha’s capacity, preparedness and astuteness, we will not in any manner, aid his attempt to divert attention from his last minute looting of the state’s finances.

“But we will bring the attention back to the burning issues, bothering on his primitively insatiable thirst for looting of public funds,” the statement added.

The PDP pointed out that unlike the incumbent governor, Ihedioha had not been indicted over any fraudulent issue in all political positions he had held.

“Our governor-elect has never been involved in any fraudulent activity nor has he been questioned or investigated for abuse of office despite holding sensitive offices at the national level.

“He is known to have acquitted himself creditably, while setting new records and leaving legacies in the sands of history in the nation’s public service. We challenge him to also publish without delay, names of contractors that did projects for the state and how much each project cost.

“Governor Okorocha must be reminded that we know of all the last minute looting he has embarked on and we are certain that the full weight of the law will catch up with him, sooner than he expects,” it stated.