… says, the way Uzodimma uses them to carry out nefarious activities has become worrisome Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri Former governor of Imo State and Senator Representing Imo West Senatorial District, Senator Rochas Okorocha has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Adamu to investigate the “Police Personnel” in Imo Government House to see whether they are genuine police men or fake personnel in Police Uniform, Stating that governor Hope Uzodinma has Continued to use them to carry out so many nefarious activities, no genuine police man or woman would subscribe to. Okorocha who had spoken on Monday, February 22, 2021, when thousands of Imo people came on Solidarity visit to him, following the ugly incident that happened on Sunday, said that Governor Uzodinma has Continued to Create unnecessary tension in the State even when there was no need for that, adding that he has also continued to go the wrong way and might not end up well. His words, “Imo today is very unsafe and unsecured. Tension everywhere in the State. Look at what is happening in Orlu, for the first time in history, after the war. See what is happening in Oguta. I think he wants to make everybody fear him. Nobody will fear him. That was why he got a law passed for him by the State House of Assembly empowering him to arrest and detain Citizens at will”. He Continued, “When I heard that Policemen had taken over Royal Palm hotel, I called the Commissioner of Police to find out if his men were the ones there, he said he had not sent any Policeman to the place. I called the Deputy Commissioner of Police, he gave me the same answer. I called the State Director of Security Service (DSS), the answer was the same. I said, let me go and see the Police people at the Hotel and know where they came from, since the CP, DCP and Director SS had all denied knowledge of the presence of the Security Personnel there. “I got there, asked the “Policemen” there who sent them, they said they came from the Government House. That they were sent by the governor. That was at the point we were, when the governor’s Special Assistant on Special Duties, Chinasa Nwaneri, Eric Uwakwe arrived with buses loaded with thugs, armed with matchets and guns. And the same Police people from Government House aided the thugs in matcheting and shooting my aides. No trained Policemen would have behaved or acted the way they did. That is the reason I am calling that they should be investigated, “I also call on the IG to arrest Chinasa Nwaneri and Eric Uwakwe. The ugly events that have Characterised the government in the State have shown that there is total breakdown of law and order. The Security of the State has broken down. All the heinous crimes we fought to standstill, have all come back to the State, “I had requested my wife to come home and invest. And that was the reason she brought her furniture business to Owerri and built that hotel. I also asked my Children to invest here because I believe in the State. I had decided not to go the other way last Sunday to avoid people losing their lives in an incident involving me. Otherwise, if I had allowed my aides to make the calls they had wanted to make, the story would not have been the same today, “A governor who came through the Court should show respect to matters in the Court. And should not engage in self–help against matters in Court. Since he came to office, what he has achieved so far are demolition of Somto hospital, tunnels, roundabouts and left them abandoned. Roundabouts that brought safety and beauty to our Society, “Rather than making peace, he wants to govern by intimidation and harassment. A wise governor who has not paid his workers, his teachers, who has not paid Pensioners, ISOPADEC workers, at times he would pay some and leave some, should at least have the Civility . “I appreciate the Presidency for its intervention in the matter. Otherwise nobody would have imagined what would have been the situation yesterday and today. I thank the Presidency. I governed Imo State for eight years and there was no incident of me arresting anybody. But today, it is on record that he has arrested so many people and detained them, including a widow, Assembly member, Journalists, workers etc. He should not take Imo people for granted. I urge Imo people to remain calm and watch. Nobody is disturbing him. Not one single project. He cannot be judged by the number of people he arrested or locked up or how many properties he invaded, but by his performance. Let him do one project we can see”, Okorocha Stated.

Ibe Pascal Arogorn, Owerri Former governor of Imo state, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has warned his successor Hope Uzodinma, to desist from intimidating and arresting Imolites. The Senator who is representing Imo West Senatorial district at the 9 th Assembly, said that anyone who came through the court must obey the rule of law. Addressing his followers, Okorocha cautioned Uzodinma not to take his calmness and peaceful disposition for granted, noting that he should stop displaying criminality and thuggery in governance, but should govern Imo citizens peacefully. His words: “Governor Hope Uzodinma is moving in a wrong direction that he may not end up well with. With what happened yesterday, Hope simply displayed criminality in governance, thuggery in governance. “He is creating unnecessary tension, when there is no need for it. Imo today is very unsecure for the first time since nine years. Now when you go to Orlu, you see killings that even the air force jet, for the first time in the history after the war came to Orlu. “You see, yesterday alone, 10 houses were burnt, at Ukwuta. Everyday people are being killed in this state, people are being intimidated by the governor and his thugs. “Now I do not know what the governor wants to achieve, but I think he wants to make everybody to fear him. He has also introduced a law through the Imo state House of Assembly that empowers him to detain people at his will. That law is barbaric and must be condemned. “Now Governor Hope Uzodinma is busy chasing shadows of violence, and leaving performance. Since he came to office, what he has achieved so far is demolition of one thousand bed hospital in Douglas Somto, built by me. “He has demolished the Tunnel at Port-Harcourt road, built by me, on the reason that it was sub-standard. He has demolished all the roundabouts that have brought beauty and safety of roads in our society, without replacing them. “Rather than making peace, he wants to rule by intimidation, and that is not acceptable in anyway. A wise governor who has not paid his workers, who has not paid teachers, pensioners, sacking workers, sacking teachers at will. “Pay some and leave some. Now the wisest thing to do if he does not have money, is to use good speeches to appease the people. But unfortunately the governor is inciting violence on daily basis. “Now he has taken a personal attack on me and my family, and I have not done anything in retaliation. First the governor reported the matter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), claiming that I used Imo state money to build some properties. “The case has been in court, and till date there has not been any proof, by any court of competent jurisdiction, that has traced any government funds to any of my accounts. “Yet Hope has insisted in reporting the case every little to ICPC and CPC. When he saw that he is not making headway at the EFCC, he turned back to use the police. But I must say today, that the act of the government house police yesterday should be brought to question. “I want to ask, that the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu, direct the arrest of Chinasa Nwaneri and Eric Uwakwe, who led the thugs. Most of them have been in armed robbery activities in the stat. “I want the Inspector General to investigate, if those are policemen or thugs brought outside wearing Police uniform. I don’t think that any sane policeman will act in a manner those officers acted yesterday…. “There is a breakdown of law and order in the state. I don’t think that any sane governor will want to govern a state of violence. Concerning the hotel in question, Hope Uzodinma, Commissioner for Land went to that hotel which I requested my wife to come down home and invest for the purpose of creating jobs and helping our people. “I was never a poor man before I became governor of Imo state. I came here, brought my children to invest, I brought everybody to invest because I believe in this state. Most of these people who are fighting me do not have one single investment. “The commissioner for Land went there and arrested all the people, including guests of the hostel, before putting the pad lock he claimed he put. Why not put the pad lock first, then if anybody goes there, then you can arrest the person. “But he arrested these people and brought them to the police station. They are still there and the Police, also have the audacity to detain innocent citizens because the governor has directed them to do so. “The amount of shooting that took place in that hotel was more than two hundred gunshots. Who are you shooting? Who do you want to kill? That is my question. Do you want to kill the citizens you are governing? That again is my question. “So Hope Uzodinma must be called to order….. His thugs were shooting at us while Police officers from government house were watching. “I restrained my aides not to shoot because I hate to stain my hands with blood, if not there would have been lots of deaths yesterday. They took advantage of that and did what they did to the extent that they destroyed all my cars, and riddled my cars with bullets. “What Hope Uzodinma is doing is not good. Few days ago he went to Eastern Palm University and shut down the university were children are going to school. “That is not the way to do it. A governor, who came through court, should know how to respect the rule of law. If a matter is in court you cannot use executive power against the court power. But this is what Hope Uzodinma is doing in this state. “But for the timely intervention of the presidency in this matter, Imo

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has been thrown into panic following an attempt by the All Progressives Congress to bring in Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State , Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State and his Cross River State counterpart, Governor Ben Ayade, The PUNCH has learnt. The negotiations are being handled by the Yobe State Governor , Mai Mala Buni , who is also the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee; and Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State . An impeccable source within the APC told Sunday PUNCH that Governor Ifeanyi Uguwanyi of Enugu State was also being targeted by the APC but had declined their advances . “ Uguwanyi has been targeted but he is proving stubborn . Our aim is to ensure that we have at least three South -East states out of the five ahead of the 2023 elections . If we cannot get Ugwuanyi, we will ensure that we win the Anambra governorship election which comes up later in the year, ” he said . It was learnt that Governor Matawalle of Zamfara State had already been accepted by top All Progressives Congress leaders in Zamfara State like a former governor of the state, Senator Ahmed Yerima , who had stated publicly that Matawalle would defect. A PDP chieftain said , “ Matawalle became governor through a Supreme Court ruling . Zamfara State is still very much APC and Matawalle is seeking a second term in office . He has been able to establish a good relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari. “ He has also been at loggerheads with the leadership of the PDP . In November 2020, Matawalle lashed out at the South -South governors of the PDP for generating bad blood in the party. “ He said he was disappointed with the South -South governors for sparking the controversy over the Zamfara gold issue and even said he was not surprised by the decision of Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State to dump the PDP for the APC . He is therefore expected to join APC soon . ” It was learnt that Governor Mohammed of Bauchi State was also expected to join the APC soon and had already begun taking pro -APC positions on several matters . “ Bala Mohammed is also seeking a second term. His recent statements on herdsmen and his refusal to blame the Federal Government are due to his relationship with the Presidency. We have made frantic efforts to keep him in the party but it seems he may have made up his mind, ” he said . For Governor Ayade of Cross River State , it was learnt that he had fallen out with his predecessor, Senator Liyel Imoke. It was learnt that Ayade had lost control of the PDP structure in the state. A former Minister of Aviation , Chief Femi Fani – Kayode , is also expected to leave the PDP soon along with some governors before the registration exercise of the APC ends . “ The recent membership drive is being championed by Governor Buni , Governor Yahaya Bello; Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and the Attorney- General of the Federation , Abubakar Malami ( SAN) . These are people who have the power to give you what the PDP cannot give . “ They have the President ’ s backing to make promises and keep them . They are not like Bola Tinubu and Adams Oshiomhole who were not empowered by the President , ” a former governor stated . Meanwhile, it was learnt that former President Goodluck Jonathan had not made any commitment to join the APC as of Saturday evening . An associate of the former President said indeed Jonathan was not happy with the PDP which informed his support for the APC candidate in the last governorship election in his home state of Bayelsa , Mr . David Lyon. It was , however , learnt that Jonathan saw the move as too risky. “ Jonathan would have joined the APC but the problem is that it is too risky. At his level, the only thing you can promise him is the Presidency and no one can promise him that seat because politics is too unpredictable. So , for now , he will remain in the PDP , ” he said . The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus , had on Saturday alleged that the leadership of the APC is giving false promises to some members of the opposition party to enable them to defect to the ruling party. Secondus told The PUNCH that there had been many moves by the ruling party to woo members of the PDP into its fold, saying the purpose of the APC was to snatch the PDP members but later refuse to give them any meaningful role in the party in future .

The Executive Director, Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, has described true federalism as the only option that could prevent Nigeria from sinking into deeper crisis. Dr. Tokunbo, who said this on Sunday at a virtual interview programme, titled, ‘ A Conversation with Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu,’, expressed the belief that only true federalism could bring back the waning confidence of many Nigerians on the country’s leadership and how the country’s affairs were being run. She expressed regrets that despite the abundant human and natural resoruces in every part of the country, her different ethnic groups were yet to arrive at a consensus on how those resources should be administered. “There is no part of this country that does not have its own resources, and they all have different ideas on how they want to be governed. But, do we have a consensus on this matter? No. I think restructuring is the first thing that needs to be done, if we want to prevent a situation described by Papa Awolowo as a state of permanent crisis,” she stated. Dr. Dosunmu attributed the present crisis in different parts of the country as a fallout of mutual suspicions that had existed among the different ethnic in the past few years. She added that the time had come for those in government to take decisive actions, regarding criminal activities in the country. Dr. Dosunmu described that as the only way of winning the confidence of many Nigerians, who believed the federal government had not been decisive enough because of the ethnic stock of those perpetrating the crime. While stressing the need to give state governors unhindered freedom to secure their respective states, without having to make a recourse to the central government, Dr. Dosunmu also threw her weight behind community policing, that would involve the nation’s traditional rulers to effectively check the rising rate of criminal activities in the country. “I believe everything about insecurity in this country is a threat to communities, and that is why the solution has to be local. “First, the Governors should be allowed to be the chief security officers of their states. They need to have control over security outfit. So, state Police is absolutely essential. State Police means that you have people who know the area. “I have always said that if those security outfits are allowed to work as they should, they will perform better. I think the state police should work through the traditional rulers who will identify young men in their domain who know the land, the terrain. There is no land that does not belong to someone. “So when you do this, everybody is interested. First of all, the people have vested interest, they want to secure their lands. So they would do everything humanly possible to drive out criminals from such land, besides they will be given stipend every month. “It is unfortunate that the impression that is given is that there are sacred cows that cannot be touched. I think the leadership at the centre should be more forceful about what should be done. They should read the riot acts to the security agencies about what the government expects of them. Once people are confident that the government is at their back, a lot of the frustrations will be removed,” she stated. The only surviving child of the late Awolowo dynasty also expressed her wish that the late sage had lived a bit longer. According to her, since he died, many questions and national issues that the late politician would have provided answers to, had continued to come, but without adequate solutions. “How I wish Papa had stayed a little bit longer. I feel so sad that, since his death, a lot of questions which were not there, while alive, have kept coming to me, and which I’m sure he would have provided answers to,” she added. The Obafemi Awolowo Foundation boss also explained that the decision to set up the Foundation was informed by the need to intervene, regarding some of the challenges facing many Nigerians, especially the under-privileged, but from a non-partisan angle. “The idea is to extend the Papa’s legacy. We knew we might not be able to do it the way he was doing it, and that was why we always organise conferences and research, involving critical stakeholders, with the aim of discussing issues confronting the country and proferring solutions,” she added.