IMO LG CHAIRMAN DROPS DEAD AFTER VISITING COMMISSIONER

Transition Committee chairman of Ehime Mbano LGA in Imo State, Mrs Chioma Ogoke on Sunday slumped and died.
The chairman was said to have died of heart attack after visiting the Owerriresidence of one of the commissioners presently serving in Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration.
Mrs Ogoke, who is the former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry under the present government, was rushed to hospital immediately she slumped but was confirmed dead at the hospital.

IMO ASSEMBLY RAISES PANEL TO PROBE SPEAKER • OKOROCHA ORDERS ARREST OF SPEAKER’S AIDE, FIVE CONTRACTORS

THE authorities of the Imo State House of Assembly have appointed a six-man committee to probe allegations of corruption against the Speaker of the assembly, Chief Benjamin Uwajumogu. His former Senior Special Assistant (SSA), Media and later, Special Duties, Ikenna Samuelson Iwuoha, had alleged accused that the Speaker and his Chief of Staff, Chikodi Ananekwe of amassing massive wealth, urging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies in the country, to probe the Speaker.

IMO ASSEMBLY NOW FACTIONALISED OVER APC

OWERRI—Strong feelers coming from Imo State House of Assembly shows that the legislature is now factionalized into pro-All Progressives Congress, APC, and die-hard opponents of the new party.
The situation may be connected with the alleged spirited efforts by Governor Rochas Okorocha to woo the lawmakers to APC.
Vanguard investigations revealed that while some lawmakers are favourably disposed to following Okorocha to APC, others appeared vehemently opposed to swallowing what they termed “the new political pill”.

CONFLICTING REPORTS OVER ALLEGED FACE-OFF BETWEEN OKOROCHA, DEP

There are conflicting reports from staff of Government House, Owerri, over the alleged face-off between Governor Rochas Okorocha and his Deputy, Prince Eze Madumere.
A school of thought hinged the alleged face-off between the duo to an alleged plan by Madumere to build a political structure to actualize his gubernatorial ambition in 2015.
According to the source, “the frosty relationship between the governor and his deputy has led to the absence of Madumere from public functions for quite some time.”
Another source however explained that Madumere “has been down with a critical leg fracture”, which requires urgent medical attention.
They equally maintained that the deputy governor had been suffering from this medical problem since his days as chief of staff.

N458M BRIBE: OKOROCHA FAULTS EFCC CLEARANCE OF AGBASO

Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has described the purported clearance of his impeached Deputy, Sir Jude Agbaso, by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N458 million bribe as mischievous and self-serving. He accused the EFCC of doing nothing over the state government’s request to investigate the missing N67 billion allegedly misappropriated by the administration of former governor Ikedi Ohakim.
The EFCC had written a letter to Agbaso in response to his request for investigation into the alleged N458 million bribery scam, on which he was impeached as deputy governor, clearing him of the allegation.
The anti-graft agency had stated that no document or written statement linked Agbaso to any bribe.
Speaking at a media briefing in Owerri, Governor Okorocha noted that the EFCC does not have the powers to clear anybody, saying it was the responsibility of the court to do so.
“I have not heard that the EFCC now has the power to clear anybody of gross misconduct, as the only institution vested with such authority to clear Jude Agbaso of misconduct is the court of law and not the EFCC,” he stated.

ARARAUME, FORMER DEPUTY GOV AT WAR OVER LANDED PROPERTY

Former Imo State Deputy Governor, Dame Ada Okwuonu, and Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, gubernatorial candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria in the 2011 general elections in the state, are currently spoiling for war over a plot of land.
The duo are laying claims to the piece of land located at Works Layout, a choice area in Owerri, the state capital.
But the scramble for the property took a dangerous dimension at the weekend, when thugs, allegedly sponsored by the former deputy governor, stormed the disputed piece of land measuring about two plots and demolished the houses built by the former senator.
When our reporter visited the scene, residents of the demolished buildings recounted their ordeal in the hands of the thugs who were still at the site brandishing dangerous weapons.

TENSION IN POLICE OVER TRANSFER BY IMO CP

THE transfer of senior police officers from Imo State Police Command to especially troubled northern states is generating tension among the rank and file of men in the command.
Aggrieved officers who protested yesterday in Owerri, capital of Imo State, accused the Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr. Muhammad Musa Katsina, of bias in transfer of about 60 officers.
The protesters urged the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Mr. Mike Okiro, who hails from Ohaji, Imo State, to immediately wade into the matter.
When The Guardian called the CP on phone yesterday to hear his side of the allegation, he simply switched off his phone without any comment after listening to the request of the reporter.

IMO: WHY OKOROCHA WAS FLOWN ABROAD

The Imo State Government has denied speculations that its governor, Rochas Okorocha, was flown abroad for medical attention because of the dismal state of affairs in government-owned general hospitals in the state.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Obi-Njoku, who disclosed this to journalists in Owerri, explained that Okorocha was first treated in Orlu before being flown to a London hospital for “a second medical opinion.”

“The governor was not flown abroad for medical attention because of the alleged sagging general hospitals in the state, as some people have been saying,” the commissioner said.

PDP CHIEFTAINS OFFERED ME N3BN TO IMPEACH OKOROCHA –SPEAKER

Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu, yesterday made a startling revelation of how the elder brother of the impeached Imo State deputy governor, Chief Martin Agbaso and some chieftains of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, offered him a whopping N3 billion to impeach the state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

Speaking during an interview with selected journalists in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Uwajumogu alleged that Chief Agbaso, a business mogul, Sir Emeka Offor, the PDP National Vice-Chairman, South East, Col. Augustine Akobundu and other high ranking PDP members promised to give him the money if he would facilitate the impeachment of Okorocha to pave way for his deputy, Jude Agbaso, to become the governor.

IMO DEPUTY GOV, AGBASO, IMPEACHED •OKOROCHA’S CHIEF OF STAFF, MADUMERE, TO STEP IN

THE Imo state House of Assembly on Thursday impeached the state’s Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso on alleged misappropriation of the sum of N485 million following the conclusion of an investigation on the allegations levelled against him by a seven-man panel

With the impeachment, which took place at the close of working hours, it is now certain that the Chief Of staff to the state governor, Prince Eze Madumere would replace Agbaso, having been  nominated already by the governor. Madumere may be sworn in next week after an approval by the House.

I HAVE ONE TERM PACT WITH OKOROCHA –MARTIN AGBASO

• Says Okorocha Gave Me $5,000 In Kosovo

A new twist emerged in the N458 million naira contract sagas against the Imo State Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, when his elder brother, Chief Martin Agbaso made scathing revelations on the deal with his family and the Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha before the latter’s election as Imo governor in 2011.

Agbaso said Okorocha agreed to hand over power to him after four years on the saddle, while he (Okorocha) was to produce a deputy in the event Martin Agbaso clinches the governorship seat in 2015.

IMO BRIBE SAGA: I GOT ONLY A BOTTLE OF WHISKY FROM CONTRACTOR –DEPUTY GOV

Embattled Imo State Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, who is facing impeachment by the state House of Assembly over allegations of receiving bribe from a contractor, J-Pros Nig Ltd. has again denied it, describing the entire scenario as “laughable.” He told journalists yesterday in Lagos that the allegations were merely designed to tarnish his image and that of his family and vowed to fight until “my innocence is proved.”

He explained that the said contractor, who he met for the first time at the construction site with the governor gave him only a bottle of blue label whisky in his house. He gave details of the transactions leading to the gift: “The contractor had absconded. I later discovered that 100 percent payment had been made upfront without due process. He was even overpaid by N200 million.

N458M BRIBERY SCANDAL: IMO DEP GOV VACATES OFFICE, HOME TO EVADE IMPEACHMENT NOTICE

The impeachment drama between the Imo State Assembly and the Deputy Governor, Chief Jude Agbaso, continued yesterday as the deputy governor has apparently stayed away from his office and his official residence to avoid being served with an impeachment notice, leaving the state Assembly in a dilemma. According Acho Ihim, chairman, House Committee on Information, the deputy governor had neither shown up in his office nor in his official residence making it difficult to serve him notice of impeachment unanimously voted by the House.

YOU TOOK N458M BRIBE, IMO HOUSE TELLS DEP. GOV AGBASO

Despite denials by the embattled Imo State Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, that he did not collect N458 million bribe from the Managing Director of J-Pros International Nigeria Ltd, Mr Joseph Dina, the House of Assembly yesterday maintained that a special committee of the House had indicted him of the offence.

Agbaso had over the weekend cried out that the House’s bid to impeach him was politically-motivated, citing an agreement reached by Governor Rochas Okorocha with his elder brother, Chief Martin Agbaso, on 2015 Imo governorship slot to be the cause of his travails.

WHY OKOROCHA IS AFTER ME –DEP GOV

The Imo State Deputy Governor, Chief Jude Agbaso has denied the allegation by the state House of Assembly that he took bribe from a contractor to award him contract. Agbaso whom the House is threatening with impeachment said during the weekend in Imo State that he never had any encounter with the contractor or collected any money from him.

He rather said that he knew why the Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha wanted him out of the way. His claim was that the fight targeted at him was all about the 2015 gubernatorial race in the state. “The truth is that I am a victim of power play between two powerful political figures. I heard that there was an agreement reached between my elder brother, Chief Martin Agbaso that the governor should be in office for one tenure and give way for him to contest.

PLOT TO REMOVE IMO DEPUTY GOV THICKENS •AS STATE’S ASSEMBLY PRONOUNCES HIM GUILTY OF CORRUPTION

THE move to remove the deputy governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso, over alleged misdemeanour has reached an advanced stage as a committee of the State House of Assembly saddled with the task of probing the allegations of corruption against him returned a guilty verdit.

The committee, which presented its report to the House last Thursday, affirmed that the deputy governor was guilty of the allegation of misappropriating the sum of N450 million meant for contractors levelled against him through a petition.

N458M CONTRACT SCAM: IMO ASSEMBLY TO IMPEACH DEPUTY GOVERNOR

There is palpable tension in Imo State, following moves by the House of Assembly to impeach the Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso. His alleged offence is a scandal over contract kick back of N458million. He is alleged to have received gratification to the tune of N458million from one of the major contractors – JPROS International Nigeria Limited – which has led to the abandonment of some road projects in the state.

Consequently, the Imo State House of Assembly has passed a vote of no confidence on the deputy governor. The House has also commenced impeachment proceedings against him. Saturday Newswatch learn’t that a committee of the whole House has deliberated on the report of the Ad-hoc Committee instituted to investigate the root cause of the stoppage and abandonment of work in the Owerri, Okigwe and Orlu municipalities.

2015: CATHOLIC CHURCH WILL VOTE OUT OKOROCHA IF … –PRIEST

A Catholic priest in Ahiara Diocese of Imo State, Rev. Fr. Patrick Ogu, yesterday in Owerri, said the Catholic Church will not hesitate to vote out Governor Rochas Okorocha in 2015, if he fails to deliver on his campaign promises to the people.

Ogu said this just as he criticised the Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, for witch-hunting the former governor of the state, Orji Uzor Kalu.