Buhari has promised to intervene in my case with EFCC - Okorocha – Newstrends
Connect with us

News

Buhari has promised to intervene in my case with EFCC – Okorocha

Published

on

Former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, says President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to take on the case he has with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He said this on Thursday while responding to questions from State House reporters after a closed door meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former governor of Imo State said the EFCC had continued to harass him in spite of a subsisting court order restraining the anti-graft agency from prosecuting him.

The commission had filed a 17-count fraud charge against him at the Federal High Court, Abuja, shortly after Okorocha publicly declared intention to contest for presidency in 2023.

He was alleged to have embezzled N2.4 billion through connivance with some individuals and companies.

Okorocha said he met the President in order to get justice because the EFCC was still holding his international passport.

According to him, it is the responsibility of Buhari to ensure that justice is served on all citizens.

Okorocha stated, “The President said he would take up the matter, especially when he saw the judgment. He said, he would take up the matter and find out what is actually happening. And I hope he will do so. And I believe he will do that.”

The senator said it was “politically motivated” when asked if he suspected his ordeal was being orchestrated by the detractors.

He also spoke on why he requested the President’s intervention despite his disposition for principles especially in the fight against corruption, he said, “One of the duties of a president is to protect the law of the land. And when an issue comes to an issue of judgment it is incumbent on the government of the day to ensure that justice is done.

“I came to demand justice that you should prevail and as the custodian, as the leader of our nation, he should be made to know that such is going on. I didn’t come here to say, I don’t want to be investigated by the EFCC. That’s not the issue, that there’s judgment on the ground.

“There’s judgment and there’s order of court that I’m asking Mr. President, who appointed the EFCC to recall that there was the law that established the EFCC. And if that law is good to make somebody EFCC, that law should be obeyed, too.”

Okorocha attributed the general insecurity in the South East to “poor handling” of the issues of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He said the decision to prescribe IPOB as terrorists by the FG was a needless action when the matter could have been properly handled by the authorities.

Okorocha said he was able to manage the security situation effectively during his tenure as governor for eight years in Imo State.

“It was a needless action to have even started. Something that you can handle and not allowed to escalate? If the Federal Government made them to call them terrorists it is the state government that made the recommendations and created that image that presented the boys as terrorists,” he added.

He also asked for justice on the matter involving his in-law, Uche Nwosu, who was kidnapped by masked security personnel, saying the arrested person in connection with the matter had been released.

News

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

Published

on

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has directed the immediate freezing of all state-owned bank accounts.

In a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Fred Itua, the governor stated that the accounts would remain frozen until further notice.

He instructed commercial banks, ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to comply with the order immediately or face severe consequences.

The statement reads: “All state bank accounts with commercial banks have been frozen. Commercial banks must comply with this order and ensure that not a single naira is withdrawn from government coffers until further notice.

READ ALSO:

“Heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies must ensure full compliance without delay.

“Following necessary investigations and reconciliations, the governor will take appropriate action and decide on the way forward. For now, this order remains in effect.”

Okpebholo also directed relevant agencies to revert the name of the Ministry of Roads and Bridges to its previous title, the Ministry of Works, a change made during the Godwin Obaseki administration.

“It is odd to name a government institution the Ministry of Roads and Bridges, especially when not a single bridge was built by the previous administration — not even a pedestrian bridge.

“In the coming days, we will examine further actions taken by the previous administration and make decisions that serve the best interests of the state,” the statement added.

 

Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name

Continue Reading

News

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

Published

on

Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

Prominent Islamic scholar Dr. Ahmad Mahmud Gumi has criticized the widely discussed two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling it a “deception.”

His remarks followed a recent summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Riyadh, where President Bola Tinubu and other leaders condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged an end to hostilities.

In an interview with Daily Trust at his Kaduna residence, Gumi argued, “This Two-State Solution is a deception. No Israeli will allow a Palestinian to survive, and Palestinians will never allow Israel to survive.

READ ALSO:

The only solution is to dissolve the two states and create a democratically electable region.”

Gumi commended the OIC’s support for Palestine, noting that Muslims and Arabs worldwide increasingly see the treatment of Palestinians as “genocide” and accuse Israel of human rights abuses.

He also called for a return to the pre-1948 structure, where Palestinians, Jews, and Christians lived together, suggesting a single, inclusive state that allows peaceful coexistence.

“When I hear people talking about Two-State Solutions, I know they are just deceiving themselves,” Gumi added, advocating for a unified region where people of all faiths can live together, similar to the multi-faith coexistence seen in countries like the United States.

 

Israel-Palestinian conflict: Two-state solution is a deception, says Gumi

Continue Reading

News

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

Published

on

Olusola Ebiseni

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

The Labour Party candidature of Olusola Ebiseni for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Ondo State has been nullified.

The nullification follows the sacking of Ebiseni by the Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The governorship election of the southwest State will hold on Saturday, 16 November 2024.

The judgement disqualifying Ebiseni was unanimously delivered by the three members of the panel and read out by the chairman of the panel, Justice Adebukola Banjoko.

The judgment granted the prayer of the Labour Party who preferred the case against Ebiseni.

READ ALSO:

Justice Banjoko held that, “the appeal marked CA/ABJ/CV/1172/2024 brought by the Labour Party against Chief Olusola Ebiseni and two others is allowed.”

Justice Banjoko further stated that the Certified True Copy of the judgment would be provided to the parties involved in the appeal as soon as possible for their review.

Recall that Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to accept and recognize Olusola Ebiseni and Ezekiel Awude as the Labour Party’s governorship and deputy governorship candidates for the November 16 Ondo State governorship elections.

Justice Nwite confirmed that the second primary election conducted by the Labour Party, which resulted in Ebiseni and Awude being selected as candidates, was valid and should be upheld by INEC.

However, the appellate court has now overturned the judgment of the trial court’s judgment.

 

Court sacks Ondo LP candidate, two days to governorship poll

Continue Reading

Trending