George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
Imo State governor, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, has said that his administration would not be run on propaganda and that they would not be distracted by those who have already decided to bad mouth them.
He also reiterated that his administration would recover all looted government assets, properties, funds and private lands forcefully acquired by the immediate-past Governor Rochas Okorocha and officials of his administration.
He also disclosed that this administration would be setting up a team of legal experts for the review and update of the extant laws of the state to be in tandem with the objective of his administration to develop both infrastructure and industries.
The governor stated this on Tuesday while declaring open a 3-day retreat/orientation for Imo State House of Assembly members-elect of the 9th Assembly held at the Crystal Lake Resort in Oguta council of Imo State.
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He said: “We are not going to run an administration based on propaganda and we will not be distracted by those who have already decided to bad mouth us but what we have promised the people of the state is that besides restoring the state to progress, we are going to recover all looted state funds, assets, properties and private lands that were forcefully acquired by the immediate-past Governor Rochas Okorocha and officials of his administration. We are compiling a comprehensive list of those involved in the criminal act and it would soon be forwarded to the security agencies.
“You cannot run a state the way you like; you don’t just take away the properties of a state; that is stealing and we will criminalise you. If government is run the way the immediate-past administration had done, the former governors of the state would have left nothing for their successors. I can’t just swallow the lie that I have been handed over to when I wasn’t.”
The Imo governor maintained that his administration is going to review all land allocations immediately, stressing that it does not matter when it was back-dated to as the administration had already secured the services of forensic experts to determine the actual date when such lands were allocated.
He re-emphasised his commitment to qualitative education, poverty and unemployment alleviation, wealth creation, massive investment in agriculture, good quality health care for the people as well as an enabling environment to make the state a preferred destination for business, ICT, entertainment, culture and tourism.
Meanwhile, the governor has called for teamwork between the executive and the legislature.
“The opportunities that your legislative position offers may also appear daunting as it is exciting and as challenging as it is empowering. I say this because you will be assuming your position as members of this legislative Assembly at a very critical time when the state is at the crossroads of seeking recovery from an era of arbitrariness to the new direction that we are set to go: of order, due process and respect for the rule of law.”
Earlier in his address, the Chief Judge of the state, Honourable Justice Paschal Nnadi, stressed the importance of the legislature in the democratic process and enjoined the legislators-elect to always be guided by the oath of their office and to be faithful to it in their legislative functions.
He, therefore, charged the members-elect to demonstrate legislative competence, stressing that the judiciary is always there to see if the laws they make are in order or not, even as he enjoined them to support the governor whom he said is passionate about the independence of the judiciary and the legislature.