…*No such loan was taken- Govt…
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo has accused Gov. Rochas Okorocha of mortgaging the state through loans collected from banks.
The chairman of the party in the state, Chief Eze Duruiheoma, made the accusation on Friday at a news conference.
Duruiheoma said the governor had collected N47 billion from a bank and diverted it to an unknown account.
He also said the governor had taken an additional N15 billion loan from the same bank through the help of sole administrators of local governments.
The chairman called on the governor to let the public know the exact amount the state owed banks and other creditors.
He also accused the governor of awarding contracts without regard to due process, describing it as “another attempt to fleece the state treasury.”
The chairman condemned the sack of local government officials by the governor, saying the local government system had lost more than N100 billion as a result.
He also decried the outsourcing of artisan jobs to foreigners by the governor, citing the importation of school uniforms from China, which he said could have been carried out by local tailors.
“It is on record that this governor has outsourced to his international partners such artisan jobs as tailoring, bricklaying and carpentry thereby starving this crucial segment of the economy of funds.
“Local artisans would have greatly benefited from these jobs he insists on outsourcing to artisans from China and Lebanon.”
He lamented that the governor was in the habit of abandoning projects initiated by his predecessor and also complained about the poor quality of the projects carried out by him.
“Abandoned projects litter the streets of Owerri and local government areas; the few completed ones awarded to non-professionals were done with little respect to quality.
“The consequences are that the roads so poorly constructed have gone bad in less than six months of completion.”
Reacting to the allegations, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the governor, Mr Sam Onwuamaodo, said the governor never took any loan from any bank.
Onwuamaodo said the governor had challenged politicians in the state to show proof that he obtained any loan from any bank.