Okorocha Plants Landmines on Ihedioha’s Path

By Chidiebere Onyemaizu

Out-going Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha,  whose second and final tenure ends on May 29, 2019, will be leaving behind a landmine for the in-coming governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, The Source has learnt. Ihedioha won the March 9, 2019 Imo governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Still smarting from his failure to install, as successor, his son-in-law and candidate of the Action Alliance, AA, Uche Nwosu, in the governorship election, Okorocha has allegedly perfected plans to force monumental financial obligation on Ihedioha.”He is determined to cripple Ihedioha’s government even before it takes off”, a source privy to the plot confided in this Magazine.

Another source claimed that the out-going governor is plotting to foist a bloated  and unmanageable wage bill on the Ihedioha government through last minute appointments, award of contracts and expansion of the state civil service.

“Okorocha wants to smell of roses before Imo people. He wants to remedy his battered image by embarking on a last minute populist, but bogus programmes which real intention is to trap Ihedioha into unwieldy financial obligations”, the source alleged.

Barring a last minute change of mind, The Source was informed that Okorocha whose Certificate of Return as Senator-elect for Imo West is still being withheld by INEC for allegedly forcing the Returning officer to declare him winner, will, days to handing over to his successor, announce the recruitment of about eight thousand new civil servants into the Imo state civil service.

It was also gathered that the out-going governor will equally award road contracts across the 27 local government areas of the state, in addition to re-awarding contract for the completion of the abandoned 27 General Hospitals in each of the council areas, a project he flagged off with fanfare in his first term, only to abandon them midway.

Only last week, Okorocha hurriedly inaugurated boards of 38 government agencies.  had, before then, appointed members of Imo state Judicial Service Commission.

” Okorocha is planting a time bomb, hoping and waiting for it to explode on Ihedioha.He knows that Ihedioha will surely reverse some of these malicious appointments, especially the rumoured plans to recruit new workers into Imo civil service, as well as award of phoney road contracts. His plan is to set Imo people against Ihedioha. Okorocha also wants to bequeath huge financial burden on our new governor”, a loyalist of the governor-elect told The Source in Owerri, the Imo state capital.

The embattled out-going governor, however, maintains that he is still the sitting governor and, therefore, has the constitutional power to make appointments.