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Tag: Okorocha

  • Yuletide: Okorocha orders ‘Happiness Ministry’ to pay Nov, Dec workers’ salaries

    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has directed the immediate payment of November and December salaries of civil servants in the state.

    A statement issued on Wednesday by the state Commissioner for Information, Nnamdi Obiaraeri, said the motive was to ensure that all employees of the state government had seamless Christmas.”

    The statement read, “This is to announce that the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has approved the immediate payment of the November and December 2017 salaries of Imo workers.

    “This is to enable our esteemed Imo workers to celebrate seamless Christmas. Payments have duly commenced.

    “Any worker encountering any difficulties with the approved payments should not hesitate to contact the Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment for immediate intervention.”

  • FG created fuel scarcity to increase pump price – Fayose

    Ekiti governor, Ayodele Fayose has said the fuel scarcity in the country is caused by the Federal Government to increase petrol pump price from N145 to N185 per litre.

    The governor stated this in a press release signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, on Sunday.

    He said, “Petrol is scarce across the country because the Federal Government deliberately reduced supply, since it is only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that is importing the product.

    “Allowing fuel scarcity to persist for over two weeks when Nigerians are preparing to celebrate Christmas and New Year is the height of wickedness on the part of the All Progressives Congress Federal Government.
    “Funnily enough, instead of directing its anger at President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Minister of Petroleum, on December 7, 2017, the Federal Executive Council chose to give the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, seven days’ ultimatum to end the fuel scarcity.

    “Today is December 17, exactly 10 days after the misplaced ultimatum was given, the situation has even got worse.

    “By the time the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria goes on strike as being threatened, the whole country will be shut down and one wonders what will become of Nigerians that desire to move around during the festive season.”

    Fayose added, “It is only the NNPC that is bringing products in; and the result is the scarcity being experienced now.

    “The thinking is that by the time the scarcity persists for like one month, with Nigerians already buying at N200 per litre, the people will jump at it if petrol is increased from N145 to N185 per litre.

    “This time, Nigerians will resist any attempt to further impoverish them by increasing the pump price of petrol.”

  • Buhari will get more votes in 2019 than 2015 – Okorocha

    Buhari will get more votes in 2019 than 2015 – Okorocha

    Imo governor, Rochas Okorocha has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a man of God who will save Nigeria.

    Okorocha said this in a statement issued on Sunday to congratulate Buhari on his 75th birthday.

    He said the vote the president would get in the 2019 election would be double of what he garnered in the 2015 election.

    “The governor described president Buhari as the man God had used to save the country from total collapse,” he said.

    “At the time Buhari became president, the nation was at the verge of being grounded unknown to some people and then thanked God for his grace upon the land, called Nigeria.

    “In 2019 the votes the president will get for his second tenure will be two times more than the votes he got in 2015 because most Nigerians have come to appreciate the necessity of his coming and what he is doing with the office.

    “In 2019 too, most of the political parties will not sponsor presidential candidates including some of the big parties to enable them support Buhari presidency, and to enable the President finish the good works he has begun and also lay a very solid foundation for those coming after him.”

  • Okorocha presents N190bn 2018 budget

    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State on Wednesday presented a budget estimate of N190, 921, 464, 290 to the State House of Assembly for the 2018 fiscal Year.

     

    The budget which represents 45.58 per cent increase compared to last year’s budget is tagged “Budget of Consolidation and Continuity III.”

     

    N132.98 billion, representing 69.70 per cent of the total budget, is earmarked for capital expenditure, while N57.943 billion, 30.30 per cent, is for recurrent expenditure.

     

    Presenting the budget at the Chambers of the Imo State House of Assembly, Governor Okorocha said “the 2018 budget would not only consolidate our development efforts but would ensure prudence and efficiency in our expenditure programmes.

     

    “This administration intends to use the limited resources at our disposal to achieve maximum impact. We intend to achieve synergy through collaboration and integration of programmes and projects at all levels in order to realize our vision of making Imo better. All relevant agencies of government would be strengthened to gear up towards their constitutional responsibilities to ensure that all programmes and projects are being monitored at all times.”

     

    A further breakdown of the budget revealed that Works and Transport has the bulk allocation with N39, 811,300,000, followed by education with N13, 500,000,000.

     

    Agriculture and Environment has N7, 622,990,049, while the Ministry of Culture has N440, 244,096.

  • 2019: Okorocha lied; I never underrated governors in choice of APC presidential candidate – Tinubu

    The National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has said he never at any time played down the importance of state governors in choosing the 2019 presidential flag bearer of the party.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State had earlier accused Tinubu during a recent visit to the Afenifere leaders in Akure of saying governors have no roles in the emergence of a presidential flag bearer of the party.

    Tinubu in a statement by his media office however said the accusation was not true adding that what he said in that encounter with journalists in Akure “and still canvasses is that the APC should not mimic the PDP’s penchant for short-circuiting internal democracy by promoting the idea of an automatic ticket”.

    Recall that Okorocha had said also earlier said that all the APC Governors had endorsed President Buhari for re-election, thus implying that the governors had given the President an automatic ticket for 2019.

    Asked to respond to the issue after a meeting with Afenifere leader Pa Fasoranti in Akure, Tinubu said such was strange to the party and that President Buhari is a man who believes in due process.

    Okorocha, however, interpreted that to mean a slight on the party’s governors.

    Speaking with journalists in Akure after receiving an honourary doctorate degree at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State on Saturday, he said his statement referred to the party’s governors and that Tinubu was crying more than the bereaved.

    In a statement on Monday in Lagos, Tinubu’s Media Adviser, Mr. Tunde Rahman, said: “We note Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha’s statement. It is important that the record of what Asiwaju Tinubu said when approached by journalists during his last visit to Akure is accurate. Thus, I make this statement in the hope of clarifying a misinterpretation that seems to have taken hold in some quarters.

    “I was at the interview session. Asiwaju never said anything that could be interpreted as meaning or even implying the governors are irrelevant or insignificant to the party’s nomination process. As a former governor and a leading statesman within the party, such words would never come from him.

    “Moreover, Asiwaju is a democrat who believes that the open and democratic processes of the APC, which led to the nomination of President Buhari in the first instance, have served the party well and has helped distinguish APC from PDP and other parties where fairness and internal democracy are rare commodities.

    “Every individual has a right to endorse or support a candidate of his choosing. What Asiwaju said at that encounter and still canvasses is that the APC should not mimic the PDP’s penchant for short-circuiting internal democracy by promoting the idea of an automatic ticket. The exercise of internal democracy and honoring the letter and spirit of party rules can only strengthen the party and enthuse its members.

    “APC’s all-inclusive philosophy was not devised today. It had been with the party since its creation. It was this spirit, which we believe, attracted fellow progressives and those who genuinely believe in democracy in all of its aspects to the party. Asiwaju includes Governor Okorocha in this group.

    “The APC Governors are essential and important voices in the party. Asiwaju values and respects each one of them and gives their individual and collective opinions much weight. Yet, in the exercise of our opinions and support for candidates, we all must be guided and never lose clear sight to the democratic ideals that separate the APC from the other parties. We must maintain the integrity of the processes no matter how clear-cut a decision or an outcome may seem to be. With regard to democracy, the process is of equal import as the outcome itself.

    “This is the essence of what Asiwaju said that day in Akure. He merely asked APC members to adhere to the democratic path that thus far has served the party so well. There can be no true dispute with such a sentiment.”

     

  • Why I created ‘Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment’ – Okorocha

    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has advised both the Federal and other state governments to follow suit by creating a Ministry of Happiness as he recently did because 89 per cent of Nigerians are unhappy “in the real sense of the word happiness”.

    According to him, only 4 per cent could really be happy to some extent, while 7 per cent might claim to be happy. He added that the vital aspect of human existence, which is happiness, must be addressed.

    Governor Okorocha, who recently created the Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment, spoke at the weekend when Airmen, led by the Air Officer Commanding Ground Training Command, AVM Sampson Akpasa, visited him at the Government House in Owerri.

    He noted that agitations, insurgence, hate-speeches and the likes, come up when people are unhappy.

    His words: “I thank you for your efforts in bringing Regiment 211 to Imo State. In appreciation, we have donated a 200-bed hospital to the force. This morning I spoke to the Chief of Air Force, about our intention to also donate the school to train electricians and artisans; you are doing a wonderful job.

    “But if you can observe recently, the level of crisis and agitations are on the increase. While we fight insurgence, I would want to advise that we also should go deep down to find the root cause of this agitation.

    “Agitation comes up when people are not happy, and the whole essence of life is to be happy. For this reason, I will advice that the Air Force too, just like I did recently, which most people didn’t understand, should create a department for Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment. This will help to address the need of even junior officers, who may have some forms of dissatisfaction in the discharge of their duties. Sometimes, you may think they are happy when they are not, and this sabotages the efforts of the Federal Government.

    “Mentorship is another aspect which can help people achieve their purpose in life. If people are happy, there will be less agitation. The amount of money we spend on aircrafts and in the purchase of arms would have reduced by 50 per cent. This could also end issues of restructuring, Niger Delta and all other forms of agitations…”

    AVM Sampson hailed Okorocha for the tremendous transformation his administration has recorded in the state. He said they had come on a familiarisation tour of the constituent security outfits established on July 3, 2017, adding that Enugu was carved out of other commands due to clumsy administration, and that their new training ground has helped handle insurgency in the Northeast.

    He asked for collaboration and synergy as key in all security challenges, and craved for more cooperation in Imo and other Southeast states, saying the command needs every form of support to blossom into maturity and global excellence.

  • 2019: Imo Assembly denies endorsing Okorocha’s son-in-law as governor

    The Imo State House of Assembly has distanced itself from the purported endorsement of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s son-in-law, Chief Uche Nwosu, as the next governor.

    The House was reacting to a statement credited to Henry Ezediaro (Oguta Council), who claimed that the House had endorsed Nwosu, who is also the governors’ Chief of Staff, as the best person to succeed Okorocha in 2019.

    It described the claim as “mind boggling and unbecoming of a distinguished lawmaker”.

    A statement by Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker of the House, Marcel Ekwezuo, said: “I am constrained to debunk the news that the Imo State House of Assembly has unanimously endorsed Ugwunba Uche Nwosu as the next Governor in 2019. Nwosu is one of our own, and is eminently qualified to contest for governor.

    “No doubt he is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and a citizen of Imo State. This, therefore, gives him right to vote and be voted for.

    “However, it needs to be cleared that at no time did the House of Assembly meet and endorse Nwosu as its governorship candidate, or any person for that matter.

    “The job of lawmakers is to make laws and take resolutions which will impact positively on the people. Endorsement of candidates for whatever position is no doubt not part of it.

    “Each lawmaker is free to have a choice of aspirant, but it’s certainly not a House matter. It is, therefore, mind-boggling that a distinguished lawmaker is quoted to have addressed a news conference and saying the 27 lawmakers have endorsed Nwosu.

    “It is the duty of the APC to produce a candidate, and if that candidate is Nwosu, then lawmakers of APC extraction are duty bound to deliver the candidate.

    “In the light of the foregoing, I believe Ezediaro, who is free to personally support whoever he wishes. Let it be clear to all that the House of Assembly is not in the business of endorsing political candidates, but of making laws.

    “Imolites are, therefore, advised to discountenance the publication as a figment of the writer’s imagination which has no bearing with the House of Assembly.”

    But Ezediaro remained adamant on the controversial endorsement, insisting that “the House’ leadership denial of the endorsement does not erode the fact that majority of the lawmakers met and endorsed Nwosu as the next governor.

    “We are standing on our decision and very soon, I will name the lawmakers who gave the endorsement,” he added.

     

  • ‘Atiku leaving our party is not best for APC’ Okorocha laments

    ‘Atiku leaving our party is not best for APC’ Okorocha laments

    The Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has said that the exit of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar from the ruling All Progressives Congress was not a good development for the party.

    Atiku who was a former Vice-President recently defected from the ruling party to the Peoples Democratic Party.

    Okorocha, who spoke with journalists after receiving an honorary doctorate degree at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State at the weekend, however, described Abubakar as a heavyweight politician.

    He said, “I have taken a holistic view of our party, it (Atiku’s exit) is not the best because no matter how anybody thinks, Atiku carries some political weight. His leaving our party is not the best.”

    The Imo State Governor, however, noted that since Atiku had decided to move on politically by going to another political party, the APC would make amend and his (Atiku) place will be filled up accordingly.

    Reacting to the recent statement credited to the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, which said there would be no automatic ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari ahead the 2019 Presidential Election, against the position of the APC governors, Okorocha maintained that he would support Buhari for a second term.

    The chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum had earlier said all the governors would support the party’s sole candidacy of President Buhari in 2019 election but Tinubu disagreed insisting that the APC’s presidential candidate must emerge through a primary.

    Okorocha said, “The (Tinubu’s) statement came to me as a surprise, come to think of it, I never referred to him. I refer to the governors of Nigeria including the PDP governors and I said only one or two of them have not joined yet.

    “Since I made the statement, no governor has said something contrary to what I said. I am surprised that Asiwaju will now be speaking for the governors. He looks like somebody crying more than the bereaved. I did not see reason for the statement actually. But he commands my respect and I don’t want to join issue with the National Leader of my party.

    “What I mentioned was for the governors and secondly what I said is support. The word I use is support that does not mean there will not be primary. Governors can only contribute only 37 votes, we still have over 5,000 votes up there. What I was talking about was governors. I was not talking about other party members. Governors alone do not determine the flagbearer of a party.

  • 2019: 27 Imo lawmakers endorse Okorocha’s son-in-law for governor

    Legislators of the Imo State Assembly have endorsed Governor Rochas Okorocha’s son-inlaw, Chief Uche Nwosu, for the governorship of Imo State ahead the 2019 general election.

    This was disclosed yesterday by Hon. Henry Uzoma Ezediaro member representing Oguta state constituency in the Assembly and House committee chairman on Petroleum, ISOPADEC and NDDC. Briefing newsmen Saturday in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Ezediaro said that following consultations and meetings by the state legislators, they have resolved that election of Nwosu as the state governor in 2019 would ensure the continuation of the programmes of the current administration.

    Ezediaro said, “Without Uche Nwosu as governor in 2019‚ most of the on going projects and laudable programmes of the Okorocha administration in the state would be abandoned by any person who has not been part and parcel of the current administration.

  • Rochas Okorocha and the controversial new ministry

    Rochas Okorocha and the controversial new ministry

    By Carl Umegboro

    IMO state governor, Rochas Okorocha has unceasingly faced diverse controversies over actions or inactions vis-à-vis stewardship as the chief executive officer of the metropolis. Hitherto were unembellished attacks over the erection of a statue of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in Owerri, the state capital after market-demolition saga, and followed by hosting Liberia’s President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the midst of state’s financial crisis; chiefly arrears of workers’ salaries. Earlier, President Zuma was resplendently hosted by the state despite ill-treatments of numerous Nigerians in South Africa, though elites believed the governor strategically opted for such diplomatic approaches to bridge the gap against further discriminatory squabbles.

    But on the statues, many however, contended that beautification of the state with public funds at a time workers lament profusely over arrears tantamount to insensitivity, unfortunately forgot that payment of salaries is just one out of numerous administrative duties, and that salaries in an organized sector as state government are guaranteed. Undeniably, it is hurting if not paid as at when due. However, it is imperative to footnote that awarding contracts; statues or others when salaries are owed may not imply neglect as many projects are unpaid even after execution. Nonetheless, if salaries are owed maliciously, deliberately or negligently which no well-balanced person would believe, then a blunder.

    Presently, the controversies have altered in magnitudes. The governor appointed a total of 28 commissioners including a new Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfillment leading to a whole lot of disparagements. To make it seemingly worse, the governor appointed his sibling as commissioner of the new ministry. To some, a state having such number of ministries is a gaffe. But put it in another way, all the commissioners are indigenous of the state, and broadmindedly, additional ministries will ultimately open doors for job creation. The critical question is who would constitute the workforce in the new ministries; indigenous people of Imo from various families. Thus, by the approach, government is indirectly absorbing unemployed population into its workforce. Hence, the question should be how the governor whose state currently owes arrears of salaries intends to cope with more employments instead of downsizing.

    On the controversial ministry which actually sounds absurd against the conservative pattern, broadmindedly, it is not abysmal as seemed. For example, section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended provides for a fundamental human right, precisely right to private and family life which over the years was neglected by governments despite unvarying recitals. Therefore, if the governor brings into line the provision, and offered to create a ministry exclusively for purpose fulfillment, obviously, it is a desideratum. Private and family life are basically accepted in governance, above positive laws and therefore shouldn’t be taken for granted especially when measured with many families in abyss, heading to court every now and then for divorce, and worst of it, ubiquitous cases of murder amongst spouses lately. Sensibly, the idea meticulously provides a good interventionist mechanism for improving private life and should be sustained provided there is a realistic template and blueprint. What should be of utmost importance are the goals rather than peripherals as many new objects seem anomalous at first. Gone are the days when parents give mere fanciful, reigning names with little or no meanings to their children but now emphatic irrespective of the stretches.

    Imperatively, most people are allergic to change. Incidentally, change is constant. Any attempts to alter a long-existing system will certainly face resistance except by bold and unflinching approaches. Emphatically, vision, originality and avant-gardism are overriding attributes of leadership. Arising from the above and essentially the 1999 constitution, additional ministries shouldn’t call for hullaballoos or acrimony. For appointment, commissioners and ministerial nominees are assigned portfolios after confirmation by the House of Assembly and Senate respectively, and therefore if the governor thereafter assigns offices, he shouldn’t be crucified. Democracy is a representative government and people should rather hold their legislators who exercise their sovereignty in trust accountable over their actions. Generally, democracy is a tenured arrangement and if any administrator is inept, it is a matter of time.

    Umegboro, a public affairs analyst wrote from Lagos.