By Walter Duru
Our attention has been drawn to a report making the rounds, authored by Spokesman of defeated Governorship candidate of the Action Alliance in the 2019 elections, Uche Nwosu and by extension, former Governor Rochas Okorocha, FCC Jones, with a pen name Johnbull Chikwe, alleging that the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Engr. Gerald Irona lives in a Hotel in Owerri.
The same report claimed that the Deputy Governor may have spent over One Billion Naira (N1b) on hotel bills since after the Peoples Democratic Party was declared winner of the 2019 Imo State Governorship election, among other tales.
With this latest report, no one needs any further proof that Rochas Okorocha and his boys require mental examination, as only psychiatric patients can contrive such lies.
Before, during and since after the elections, the Imo State Deputy Governor, Engr. Gerald Irona has operated from his Oguta residence. Till date, he operates from his home, as there is no official residence for both him and the Governor, Emeka Ihedioha in Owerri, following the wreck of Imo State by the former Governor, Rochas Okorocha.
There has never been a time that either the Governor of Imo State, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha or the Deputy Governor, Engr. Gerald Irona lived at Protea Hotel, Owerri or any other Hotel. They are responsible and decent men and had built very good residential houses, long before being elected Governor and Deputy Governor, respectively.
The truth is that the eight years of misrule of former Governor Rochas Okorocha took Imo thirty years backward. They almost stole the state to death. They emptied the state treasury, left behind Hundreds of Billions of Naira local and foreign debts and destroyed all state-owned Infrastructure, following his failure to impose his son in-law, Uche Nwosu on Imo State. They allegedly stole everything, even up to pots, spoons and kitchen knives.
A visit to the Governor and Deputy Governor’s official residence shows that no human being can live in such apartments, not to talk of the State number one and number two citizens. They vandalized everything, out of frustration, caused by their rejection by Imo people.
Imo people already know that the effect of their rejection of everything Okorocha may have created a gap in the brains of the former Governor and by extension, his rogue aides, who wanted to continue the looting of Imo treasury.
The general public is therefore advised to disregard the report, as neither the Deputy Governor Engr. Gerald Irona nor the Governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha lives or has ever lived in Protea Hotel.
While the Governor operates from his private residence in Owerri, the Deputy Governor operates from his Oguta-residence, pending when their official residences are ready.
Machinery is in place to fix their official residences and offices for use.
.Duru is SSA, Media and Communications to the Deputy Governor