How Ohakim stole N6bn--- Okorocha

How Ohakim stole N6bn--- Okorocha

Governor of Imo State says he will not conceal the fraud perpetrated by past administrations in the state.

Few days before he lost his re-election as governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim approached a bank to borrow N6.4 billion, the incumbent governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, has said.

Not only was the money not used for official purposes, it was not also approved by the state legislature, Mr. Okorocha told lawmakers on Monday during his 2013 budget presentation at the state assembly.

The governor, however, told the lawmakers that his administration is taking steps to recover the money, needed for development efforts in the .state. He said that his administration is determined to ensure accountability and would not conceal any fraud committed by the past administration.

The governor, who said he is under `pressure’ to probe his predecessor, however, did not say if he would succumb to the pressure.

Mr.Ohakim was not just involved in frivolous borrowings, his administration also over-valued contracts causing the state to lose billions of naira, the lawmakers were told.

Mr. Okorocha said his administration had saved N5.7 billion from re-negotiation of over-valued contracts awarded by Mr. Ohakim’s administration.

On assumption of office in 2011, Mr. Okorocha told the people that Mr. Ohakim’s administration awarded N3.2 billion contract for the construction of the Ahajioku Convention Centre, Owerri.

The governor said that Mr. Ohakim’s administration had already paid two billion naira for the uncompleted building, which according to him, can be built with N800 million.

It was a tough battle between the two men in 2011 for the governorship seat with the election being decided in a run-off.

Mr. Okorocha also announced that his administration had awarded contracts worth N45 billion for the construction of over 1,000 km roads across the state, adding that N19 billion had already been paid to the contractor handling the project.

He said that every contractor in the state had received at least 30 per cent of the contract sum for each project under construction.

Mr. Okorocha’s clarification on the payment of contractors was sequel to speculations in some quarters in the state that he had not been paying contractors.