Former Governor of Imo State and Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District, Rochas Okorocha, has met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo over the feud between him and his successor in office, Hope Uzodinma.
The Vice President hosted Okorocha in his office at the presidential villa, Abuja on Wednesday behind closed doors.
However, after the meeting, Okorocha told correspondents that he does not want the disagreement between him and the Imo governor to escalate.
While insisting that he wants peace to reign, the former governor said his tenure as governor was a sacrifice for him.
He said: “The whole thing to me sounds like a movie, a joke, a dream that does not reflect any practical reality, but I am a father, I’m a leader of that state and I am trying to make sure things don’t escalate beyond control.
“But for what has been done to me, I am human; I can bear it just for the purpose of peace to reign.”
Okorocha said he was waiting to know why he was being allegedly attacked, pointing out that the earlier allegations against him had been changed.
The former governor added: “I am still waiting to understand the reason why all the attack because before, the allegation was that the money used in the building was government money.
“Now it has changed; it is no longer the issue of government money, but that it is built on the green verge and allocation where government house was supposed to be built. I am still waiting and only time will tell.
“But let it be known that I was Rochas Okorocha before the governor and I am still Rochas Okorocha after the governor.
“Government House never made me. I was who I was before becoming governor. Rather, I would say that becoming governor was a sacrifice on my own part.”
According to him, his foundation brought in charitable organizations in Imo State as investments in the state.
He further stated: “But talking about the properties in question, the schools, the East High College, Rochas Foundation College, the Royal Spring Palm Hotel and the university, these outfits are all charitable outfits for the Rochas Foundation.
“And I brought them back home as a sign of investment to encourage investment in my own state, where I come from.
“So, the allegation that it is built on the green verge or built where Government House was supposed to be built is neither here nor there. It is rather trying to make excuses to carry out an already planned attack.”
Asked about the possibility of the All Progressives Congress (APC), wading into the matter since both he and Governor Hope Uzodinma belong to the same party, Okorocha said “that’s what one would have naturally expected.”
He further said: “The question is what wrong has Rochas done? Have I done any wrong bringing APC to the South East?
“And when I built APC none of these people was there. They were all in PDP.
“Was it wrong that I encouraged my family to invest in their state, rather than investing abroad?
“I asked nothing of the government. I simply wanted to live my free life. But it is for he that accuses to prove.
“What preoccupies my mind is to make sure that we don’t create tension in the state because already this country has a lot of insecurity. And police that ought to be busy doing something else should not be busy going to guide the sealing of a property with a white paper stronger than court judgment.
“Can governor use a white paper to execute a judgment? Can you be a judge in your own case? These are the questions begging for an answer, and why the use of thugs to attack your immediate predecessor and a senator of the federal republic?
“What are you trying to achieve? Now that you have arrested him, or forced him to a police station with thugs, what have you achieved? What is the case against him? Nothing.
“That is why I described it as a very unusual situation. I think it is a script that is playing out and this script has been for too long.
“When I won my election into the Senate, I was refused my certificate. Ugwumba Uche Nwosu won that election as governor of Imo State; they refused him.
“Now I am in the senate and I’m being accused of many things, but no one has been able to establish any fact against me.
“I have followed the due process of the law. I went to court; I got judgment, but the government does not want to obey the judgment. The same government went ahead and used white paper to seal the property.” (Nigerian Tribune)
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