UPDATED: Gov Uzodinma Refurbished My Project, Invited Buhari For Commissioning – Okorocha

Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has accused Governor Hope Uzodinma of refurbishing and commissioning projects built and completed by his administration.

Okorocha said the exco chamber recently commissioned in Imo by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the behest of Governor Uzodinma, was renovated and repackaged as a new project.

The Senator representing Imo West senatorial district stated this during a media chat organised by the National Union Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, to mark his 59th birthday.

The event was held at the secretariat of the FCT NUJ in Utako, Abuja.

“Do you know that since I left Imo State as governor, no single project has been built by any of my predecessors? Even the Exco Chamber that was commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari, I built it. Are you shocked? It was renovated,” he said during a question and answer session.

Asked to explain why he is surrounded by controversies such as his arrest by the police and investigation by the EFCC, Okorocha said: “Well to be honest with you, I don’t know. Because I think it is my nature. I’m highly misunderstood in most of the cases. I’m very straight with issues and I am blunt. I’m not one of those beings that sit on the fence on a matter, so you know where I stand on any issue at every given time.

“For the arrests which you saw (in the media), the EFCC and all that…. most of these things are politically motivated. In this country, we play what I call interesting politics. And anybody that finds himself in authority and thinks he can constitute obstacle to someone’s political career, will do anything humanly possible to bring you down.

“But those things do not reflect practical realities. I have gotten in my CV as the first former governor to be arrested by a sitting governor.

“For the EFCC, I think it’s more of misinformation. If you recall at a time that the EFCC said they found N5.7 billion in my account…I screamed and said where is the N5.7 billion? Give it to me let me carry it. But there was nothing like that, it was just misinformation that does not reflect any practical reality. But you know the EFCC will do their job based on the petitions they get and petition writers are in this country, especially in the South East part of the country. In Imo State, there is street for petition writing, it is called Njamazi street.

‘I Will Resign From Politics If…’

According to Okorocha, no Imo governor has beaten his records in terms of infrastructure development in the state.

“I was Rochas before becoming a governor and if in the history of that state anybody can say he beats my record, I will resign from politics.  I have used every word to challenge everybody, but nobody will come.”

The senator added, “As a governor, I sacrificed my security votes. The Imo State Government is still owing me. If I’m am to go by my N250 million a month, I have N8 billion not collected from Imo State.”