A former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has accused incumbent governor of the state, Senator Hope Uzodinma of pursuing a vendetta against him and his family.
In a statement released on Thursday by his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, Okorocha alleged that his ongoing probe by the Uzodinma-led government was a move to humiliate him.
He also said that the recent report that a court refused to accept his demand to stop his probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was false.
“Quickly, we want to state that the court presided over by Justice Ahmed Mohammed did not decline or refuse to stop the probe of Senator Rochas Okorocha by EFCC and the Imo State government.
“If that report was true, the court would not have again adjourned to Tuesday, July 14, 2020, when the court would decide on the orders sought by Okorocha.
“The most exciting thing that happened in the court on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, was that the judge extracted oral undertaking from the lawyer that represented the Attorney-General of the State, Mr Joseph Matthew, that the panel would not sit again during the pendency of the matter.”
Okorocha went on to accuse the the state government’s panel of disobeying an order of a federal high court in Abuja by continuing to carry out its probe against him.
“Unfortunately, and we want to complain that, in spite of the directive, the judicial panel headed by Justice BC Iheaka has continued to sit. It sat on Thursday, July 9, 2020, a day after Justice Mohammed gave the directive,” the statement issued on Thursday read.
“And all these are in desperation to get at Okorocha and the family. Otherwise, a judge ought to know that once a matter is before a court every other action on that matter should be suspended.
“We want to also make it clear that Okorocha has never been against his probe. But only taking exception to using the probe issue to diminish or discredit the more than one thousand verifiable projects of his administration, for the eight years he was governor. Or using the probe stuff to blackmail him and the family or conduct needless media trial.
“Okorocha’s contention is that while the 2nd defendant, the Attorney General of the state, had written petitions to the EFCC against him, and the Commission has been investigating all the issues in the petitions, the same issues are the ones being probed by the seven panels also set up by the same state government.
“And to Okorocha, and any sincere person, this is improper and questionable.”
