TheNewsGuru

Tag: Okorocha

  • Political future of Igbos rest in APC – Okorocha

    Political future of Igbos rest in APC – Okorocha

    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo has reiterated that the political future of the Igbo race can only be guaranteed in the ruling All Progressives Congress,APC.

    Okorocha, the Chairman of APC Governors Forum, said that South-East could not afford to be in opposition party, and urged all Igbos living outside the zone to join the APC.

    The governor in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, restated this in Owerri on Saturday.

    “All indigenes of the South-East geopolitical zone should seize the opportunity offered to them by the ongoing registration of APC across the nation and register in mass in the party.”

    He said the Igbos had no better option at the moment than to join the APC, adding that any form of opposition to the centre would result to a great political setback.

    “APC is at the centre and in most states of the federation and what the south easterners should do is to wake up and identify with the government that has come to stay,” he said.

    Okorocha, who solicited peaceful registration in the zone, warned party leaders to avoid rancour and utterances that could bring the party into disrepute.

    “Very soon we will be confronted with Anambra governorship election and we must maintain the peace and unity this party has enjoyed since inception in other to make wave in the election,” he said.

    The governor said this was not the time for leaders of the party to flex undue political muscles.

    According to him, what should be important to any patriotic party member is how to win election in the four remaining states in the South-East.

    Okorocha, however, wished a successful membership registration and called for absolute calm during the exercise.

  • Pay us our 77 months salary arrears, Imo pensioners tell Okorocha

    Pay us our 77 months salary arrears, Imo pensioners tell Okorocha

    …no pensioners protested, those parading themselves as pensioners are within the active age, CPS alleges

    Following months of accumulated salary arrears owned pensioners in Imo State, scores of pensioners in the State, on Thursday embarked on a peaceful protest to press home their demands.

    The aggrieved pensioners barricaded the Okigwe road as well as the entrance to Government House, Owerri.

    Led by their state Chairman, Chief Gideon Ezeji, the pensioners called on the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha to explain what he did with the bail out fund the state received from the federal government.

    They urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the State Governor Rochas Okorocha to order.

    Ezeji said Okorocha “behaves and treats senior citizens in the state disrespectfully.

    “Okorocha derives joy in seeing elders in this state come out from time to time to the streets to ask for their pension.

    “What did Okorocha do with the bailout fund that President Buhari gave to him? We are protesting for the third time.”

    The aggrieved pensioners said it was wicked of Okorocha’s government to plan to pay 40 percent of the accumulated arrears and gratuities while making them to forfeit 60 percent of their arrears.

    “We say no to this latest government’s plan to deny us the payment of 60 percent of arrears up to December.

    “As at December 2016, the state owes Imo pensioners between 22 months and 77 months arrears. Our gratuities have remained unpaid since 1998 till date.

    “Also, the government has refused to harmonize our pensions since 2000 to date. All the efforts by the union overseeing the welfare of pensioners have not yielded any fruit”, they stated.

    Reacting to the allegation, the state government through the Chief Press Secretary of the State Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo said those who embarked on the protest were not pensioners of the state.

    A statement by Onwuemeodo reads partly: “No pensioner in the state was part of that protest.

    “Those involved in the exercise were between the ages of 40-45. And we challenge those involved to prove us wrong by publishing their names, their autonomous communities, local government areas, years of retirement, where they retired from and their identification numbers.”

  • Ebonyi APC replies Okorocha over comments on Onu, describes it as noisy rantings

    Ebonyi APC replies Okorocha over comments on Onu, describes it as noisy rantings

    The Acting Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Ebonyi state chapter, Pastor Eze Nwachukwu Eze has faulted statements credited to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State against the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, describing it as noisy rantings and insult of the highest order.

    In a Press statement released to the media on Wednesday, Eze noted that Okorocha’s antecedents hardly place him in a position to judge others in delivering democracy dividends to the people. ‘Imo State, the reference point of non-payment of salaries to workers, alleged fraudulent projects, and calculated deceit of the masses under Okorocha cannot be in a position to discuss a man who is widely acknowledged as a development icon and bastion of the peoples ‘confidence.’ He went on to assert that Onu’ two years as Governor of old Abia witnessed more dividends than the almost six years of Okorocha’s governorship of Imo State.

    Eze accused Okorocha of fueling crisis in Ebonyi APC in his bid to force himself on Ndigbo as its leader. ‘How can a man who cannot control his backyard want to control others? He queried.

    Eze alleged that Okorocha sent his deputy speaker, Ogonna Ozurigbo to Ebonyi to recruit members to his new party as was evident in their meeting holding under a mango tree when APC Ebonyi has a massive two storey building as their office.

    Eze opined that Onu has empowered a lot of people as minister across party lines. “we are proud of his efforts and history will always judge between him and Okorocha, who indeed is truly representative of the people” he said.

    The Chairman urged Okorocha and his deputy speaker to keep up what he called “their antics of fanning embers” that will soon “consume” them.

    He further noted that the issue of Chairmanship of Ebonyi APC has been resolved by both the South East Zonal and national leadership of the party. He called Ebonyi people to come out and register massively for the APC.