BARELY 48 hours after Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, officially launched the state owned airline called ‘Imo Air’ has the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state reacted to the ceremony, describing it as an event by the governor to flag off his 2019 presidential campaign.
In a statement issued by state secretary of the PDP, Nze Ray Emeana, the party noted that the event, which took place at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, SMICA, Owerri, was another fraud by Governor Okorocha and called President Mohammadu Buhari to immediately order the grounding of the said aircraft. Describing the purported procurement and inauguration of the airline by the governor as an open scam, Emeana stressed that the said investment was meaningless as it would not address the dwindling economic fortunes of the state and its citizens.
His words: “This is another fraud as preliminarily exposed by Saharareporters.com, which will not in any manner address the dwindling fortunes of the good people of Imo State but rather serve the bogus 2019 political ambition of Governor Okorocha. “Imolites are not only in rude shock on the inauguration of the airline but also on the blatant lies by Governor Okorocha wherein he claimed that ‘Imo is not affected by the much-talked about recession in the country,
because some people might wonder why the state should dabble into airline business in time of recession; because the state has cleared arrears of pension and has paid salaries up to December 2016.’” The Imo PDP added that “the above statement is not only careless but a broad day murder of decorum, integrity and respect for the Office of the Governor.
“Nigerians are aware that Governor Okorocha has sacked over 10 civil servants as a result of economic recession. As at today, pensioners and civil servants in Imo State are owed 77 months and salary arrears respectively. “There’s alarming unemployment among youths and total collapse of infrastructure while there’s no functional education or health system in all the 27 local government of the state,” the party said. It regretted that while records showed that Governor Okorocha had received on behalf of Imo State over N150 billion between January and December 2016, in internally generated revenue, federal allocation, ecological funds, 13 percent derivation, local government allocation, bailout funds and recently the
Paris Club debt cancellation deductions, yet there is no trace of utilisation of these funds in any sector of the state. “We had expected the governor to be bold enough to tell Nigerians that the aeroplane was procured as part of the logistics for his 2019 presidential campaign.
More worrisome is the haste at flagging off his presidential campaign at a time President Buhari is on a medical vacation rather than join well meaning Nigerians to pray for the speedy recovery and return of Mr. President. “We call on President Buhari to immediately order the grounding and disposal of the aeroplane and return the proceeds to the empty coffers of Imo State to alleviate the biting hardship of Imolites,” Emeana submitted. It would be recalled that Governor Okorocha lasted Tuesday flagged off the ‘Imo Air’ amid pomp and pageantry with throng of APC supporters at SMICA with the arrival of the new airline at about 1:45pm that day. However mixed reactions have continued to trail the inauguration, especially in view of the current situation of things in the country as well as the issue of the proprietorship of the airline.
