The rot Uwajumogu led Imo state legislature allowed to underdeveloped Imo state and Why they should be voted out on this Saturday by John Mgbe

This  viewpoint  serves  to  draw  attention  to  the   ignoble  and   shameful   role

  played  by  the   members  of  the present  Ben  Uwajumogu-led  Imo  House  of  Assembly  in   destroying  and  under developing  Imo  State  since  they took  office  on  6th  June,  2011. The  essence   of  this    analysis  is to  appeal  to  Imo  electorate  to    vote  against  or reject  any  member  in  the  present  Ben-Uwajumogu-led  Legislature  who   is  seeking  a  return   ticket  to  either  the National  Assembly  or  the   State  Legislature.

Prior  to  the Presidential/  National  Assembly (NASS)   election  which  held  on March  28th,  I  did  a    similar  report which I sent  to   a  cross-section  of  Imo  electorate  on  reasons  why  they  should  reject  any  member  of  the Uwajumogu-led  legislature  who  is  seeking   to  return  to  that  House. I am glad  that   information   at  my  desk  shows that my  appeal  which  was   forwarded  to  about  1000  email  addresses  was   heeded  when  Mr.  Uwajumogu and his deputy, MR  Ozoemena,  and   others   were   rejected  at  the  polls. 

His  Deputy,  Mr  Ozoemena  was   seeking  to   be  elected  into   the  Federal  House  of  Representatives  while the Speaker,  MR. Ben  Uwajumogu,was   seeking  to  represent Imo  North (Okigwe  Zone)  in  the  Senate.  Both  of  them were disgraced  in  the  poll  and  I  thank  the  voters    for   behaving  well  on  this  occasion. But  the   battle  rages  on until those  of  them  who  are  seeking  a  return  ticket  to  the   House   are   voted  out   on  Saturday, April  11th. The message   in  this  viewpoint  is  that   any    serving  legislator  in the  present Imo  House  of  Assembly  must  be  voted out   on  Saturday. 

They  are  a  disgrace  to   democracy  and  to   their   various  constituencies  who   voted    for  them  in  2011. We  are ashamed  of  them  and  may  IMO  State   never  ever again parade  such  an  incoherent   and  corrupt   group  of pretenders  as    legislators   again, AMEN  They  are  ingrates  and  Judas  Iscariots  who   must  not  be  allowed  to   go back  to  the   Hallowed  Legislature.  They  were   the  group  that   empowered  and  encouraged  Governor  Okorocha   to turn  Imo  State  to   a   sole  proprietary  business   empire. If  we   had  a  functional  legislature, Governor  Okorocha would  not   have  been  as   corrupt,  temerarious  and  lawless  as   what  we   have  seen  in  the   last  four  years.

It   is  shameful  that   the   first  official  function  of  the  Speaker,  Ben  Uwahumogu,  after  he  was  selected  as   House Speaker  was   to  defect  from  his  party,  the  PDP,  into   Okorocha's   then  Party,  the All  Progressives  Grand Alliance(APGA).He  defected  to  the  governor's  party, APGA,    together  with    about  four  other  legislators  of  PDP extraction. In  my  viewpoint  entitled "Imo  House  of  Assembly @ one  month"  which  you  can  browse  and  read online,  I   denounced   this  act  of  treachery  and  served  notice  to  the  electorate  that   Ben  Uwajumogu  was   a disgrace  to democracy  for  abandoning  the   PDP  through  whose  platform  he   became   a  legislator,  more  so,  as   this dishonourable  act  was   his  first  official  function    as  Speaker. 

I  advised  Mr. Ben Uwajumogu  that he  would  have  borrowed  a  leaf  from  his  predecessor , Goodluck  Opiah, who  in PDP   partnered  with   the  then  governor,  Ikedi  Ohakim  of  the  Peoples  Progressives  Alliance(PPA)  without   abandoning  PDP. In  fact,  he  used  his  position  to woo  Chief  Ikedi  Ohakim  to    defect  to  the  PDP  on  July  25th, 2009  in  what  was  described  by   Chief  Olusegun  Obasanjo  as  a  promise  made  and   a  promise   kept. But in the case  of Mr.  Ben  Uwajumogu,  he   simply  mortgaged  Imo  State  to   Governor  Okorocha   for  a  mess  of  pottage  or porridge. Ben  Uwajumogu  and  his  ALI BABA  thieves in  the  Imo  House  of  Assembly(IMHA)   have  done  incalculable, irreparable,  and  irremediable   damage  to   Imo  State  in  his  four   disgraceful  years  as   a  rubber  stamp  Speaker  of IMHA.

It  is  lamentable  that   this   rubber  stamp  legislator  hails  from  Okigwe  zone-  the  zone  that   produced  the   most effective  Governor  in  Imo  State. I  mean  the   inimitable,  indomitable  and  irrepressible  DEE  Sam  Mbakwe, PHD  of blessed  memory. The  shame  of  MR.  Uwajumogu  will    make  Daddy  Sam  Mbakwe, PH.D   to   turn  and  weep  in  his grave. May  Okigwe  zone   never  present  such  a   poor   representative  in  the  political  terrain again. 

The sins of Ben Uwajumogu -led House  are  numerous. However,  for  paucity  of  space  and  time,  let   me  take   you   on  a   brief  excursion  on   how  the  Uwajumogu-  led  House  used  Okorocha's  fiscal  budgets  to  destroy  and  under -develop  Imo  State.

Four (4) Year Rescue Development Plan  for  Imo  State(2012-2015):

The  first   shameful  assignment  of  the  Uwajumogu-led  House  soon  after  he   shamelessly  abandoned  his  original party,  the  PDP,   was  to   enact  what  it  called  :Imo  State  of  Nigeria 2011,Law  No.18. It  is  also  called  Imo  State of  Nigeria  4-YEAR  Capital  Infrastructural Development Law, 2011. It is through this   nebulous document  that  Mr.  Ben Uwajumogu  and   his  group  of  Ali Baba   and  the  40    thieves   looted  Imo  State   blind. It  is  a  document   which could  be   aptly  described  as  the  veritable  "Squandering  of  Riches".  It  was  through  this   document  that   the entire members  of  the    present  House  partnered  with   Governor  Okorocha   to  destroy  the  economy  of  Imo State- thus   leaving  it   bedraggled ,  desolate  and  crest-fallen. 

In the  entire  Nigeria,  a  country    that  consists  of   36  states  and Abuja,  Imo  State   appears  to  be  the   only   State that  operated  a  4-year  Development  budget  alongside  the   usual  annual fiscal  budgets. The   fact  that  this   document   was   enacted   soon  after  the   House  was   inaugurated   evinces  the   fact  that   even  before taking  the levers  of  power,  the  Uwajumogu-led  House   had  already  made  up  its  mind    to     work  in  cahoots  with  Governor Okorocha  to   loot   the  patrimony   and  commonwealth of  Imo  State. Perhaps,  it  is  pertinent  to  state  that  this   otiose   2-year   Capital  Budget   was   assented  to  by  the  State  Governor  , Rochas  Okorocha, on  the  20th  day  of December,  2011  together  with   an  assent  by  Clerk  of  House, Barrister  Christopher. O. Duru  who   served  as  Clerk of House.      

Highlights  of  the  4-year  Development  Budget: The  excerpts  read  thus"5(a) :"The  government  shall  in  the  execution of  the  4-year  capital  projects  be  at  liberty  to  finance  the  projects  by  any  financing  module  it  considers expedient including  but  not  limited  to,  internal  and  external  borrowing,  public  private  partnership(PPP), concessioning  to private  sector  investors,  partnerships joint  venture  guarantee, etc. 

5(b)In  the  event  of  borrowing  to  finance  the  projects  listed  in  the  schedule,  prior  approval  of  the  House  of Assembly  shall  be  obtained  if  the   amount  required  exceeds N224,020,412,679.00(Two  hundred  and  twenty  four billion, Twenty  million, four hundred  and  twelve  thousand,  six  hundred  and  seventy  nine  Naira)only,,,,. 

The  implication  of  this    terrible   provision  is  that   the  Mr  Uwajumogu-led    House  abdicated  its  responsibility   of oversight  functions    over  public/ / fiscal   spending  when  it  gave  Governor  Okorocha   a  blank  cheque  to  spend  as much  as  he  wished  and  in  a  manner   pleasing  to  him   under  cover  of  the  4-year  capital  budget  which   they approved  for   the  Governor  four  years  in  advance. TERRIBLE! What  a  House  of  confused  and   distracted legislators!!

Again  under 5(b)  of  the   document,   the  House   allows the  governor  to  feel  free  to   borrow   from  anywhere  and even  use   government    property  as   mortgage  or  collaterals  in  respect  of  such  loans. Above  all,  the  governor   is free  to  borrow   without   recourse  to  the   House  as   far  as  the   loan    or  borrowing  is  below N224,020,412,679.00(Two  hundred  and  twenty  four  billion, Twenty  million, four hundred  and  twelve  thousand,  six hundred  and  seventy  nine  Naira)only. What  a  shame! This is   a  brief   story  of  how  Uwajumogu-led  Imo  House  of Corrupt  legislators  worked   in  cahoots with  Governor  Okorocha   to   destroy  the   Imo  State  economy  in  the  last four  years, It  is  lamentable  that   a   Legislature  anywhere  in  this  day  and  age   could  give  a   Chief  Executive    the freedom   to   toy  with  such  a  humongous    amount    of  over M224  billion. It  is   because  of  the  ineptitude  of this legislature  that   Governor  Okorocha   has the  temerity  and  effrontery  to  tell   whoever   cares  that: "I  don't believe  in the  rule  of  law; I  don't  believe  in  due  process  because  it  slows  me  down. He  knows  that  he  has   no functioning Legislature;  they  are   in  his  pocket.

Highlights of Projects  in  the  4-YEAR   Infrastructural  Budget: 

In the  document,  various   amounts  were  allocated  to   some   expenditure   headings  totaling N224,020412,679. Some of the  projects   include    Imo  Airways  project  for  N I BILLION,  Oguta  Blue  Lake  Treasure  for N5 billion, Power  plant project  for  N10 billion,  industrial  projects  for  15  BILLION, road  projects  for,  monumental  projects, community projects, Roads  projects  for  N681891701212 BILLION, IMSU  permanent  site  to  gulp N15 billion, Hospital projects  to gulp N10  BILLION, Gated  City projects  (Owerri)  totaling  NI3  BILLION, School  projects  totaling N22,600,0000,000.00,Okigwe  Hotel  and  Orlu  hotel    to  gulp  N4 billion  each  and   others. A total  of N224,020,412,679  was   tied  to   various  capital  projects. As  I  look  around  Imo  State  today,  I  am  unable  to   eye-mark  these  projects  to  which  huge  amounts  were  earmarked. Yes,  my  ears  have  heard   of  these  earmarked   allocations  but  my  eyes  are  yet  to  see  them. If  time  permits,  the  full  4-year    Capital  Infrastructural    Development Budget  (2012-2015  ) Schedule  will  be  published  elsewhere  for  your  perusal  and   scrutiny.

The  objective  of  this  analysis  is  to   amplify  to   the   Imo   electorate  how   the  Uwajumogu-led  House  aided  and abetted  the   looting  of  our  state  in  the   last  four  years. In  this  wise,  it  becomes  imperative  that    both  the  State Governor, Anayo  Okorocha,  and  any   legislator  in  the  Imo  State  House   of  Assembly who  seeks  a   second  tenure should  be  voted   out. They  shortchanged  Imo  and   it  is   the  duty  of  the  electorate  to have  recalled   them   before now. Since  it  is   not  possible  to  recall  them,  they  must  be  voted  out  now. They are of nuisance  value  in  the   HOUSE  of  Assembly . This is the only deterrent  against  a reoccurrence.

Governor Okorocha's  Fiscal  budgets  since  he  became  Governor;

 In    his  first    full  budget , 2012  Budget,  presented  on  the  19th  January,  2012, Governor  Okorocha presented   a  fiscal  budget  of N174,316400,000.00  billion. In  the  2013  budget,  presented  on  Monday,  3rd  December,2012, he  presented  a  budget  of  N195,743,684,031.  In  the 2014  budget  which  was   presented  on    Friday,  20th  December,  2013,  he  presented  a   total  fiscal  budget  of  N137,026,528,434. In  the   2015  budget  tagged “Budget  of  Total  Rescue and  Sustainability",  he  presented  a   budget   of  N141.2 BILLION  with  a   capital  expenditure  of  N80.5  BILLION(57%)  and   Recurrent  expenditure  of  N60.7  Billion((43%).

Now  if  you   consider.  the   total   budgets  in  both  the   4-year   capital  budget  and  the  yearly  fiscal   budgets,  you  begin  to   wonder   where  the   capital  projects    are   located

It is sad that the over  seven  governorship  candidates

from Owerri zone are unable  to  present only  one

candidate for  the  guber!

RECCOMMENDATION: All  in  all,  I   make  bold  to  say  that   Governor  Okorocha  and   Uwajumogu-led  House  of Assembly,  have  ruined  the  economy  of  Imo  State  since  their  inception  in  2011.The  only  way  to  bring  sanity  into the Imo  State  PLC  is  to   vote for  a   new  governor,  HON  Emeka  Ihedioha, and  a  brand  new   legislature   to  run the   state   from  May  29th , 2015. It  is  only  when  we   have  a  new  governor  as  well  as   new  breed  of   legislators in  the  State  Legislature  that  we  can  know  the  extent  of  damage  or  looting  of  the   state  funds  in  the regime  of Okorocha/Uwajumogu. It  is  sad  that   the   over  seven  governorship  candidates   from  Owerri  zone  are unable  to present only  one  candidate   for  the  guber!

I  have  been  reliably  informed  that   the   plan  for  a  single   governorship  candidate  from  Owerri  zone  will  not  be feasible  because  there are fears  that   at  least  one  of  the    candidates  from  Owerri  zone is   planted   there  by Governor  Okorocha   to   create    confusion  and  frustrate  any  move  for  a   consensus  candidate.   Some of the   candidates   are Okorocha’s  surrogates.  Perhaps,  One  of  the  candidate  whose   loyalty  is  to  his  party  is  not  in doubt is  the  governorship  candidate  of  the  Peoples  Democratic  Party (PDP), Hon  Emeka  Ihedioha. 

If, however,  Ndi  Owerri  zone   present   a   lone  candidate   supported  by   a  majority,  if  not  all  the  candidates, we will  adopt   him  and   vote  for  him. Nonetheless,   it  may  not  be   easy  to   reach  accord  on  a   consensus candidate since   there  are  fears  that   Governor  Okorocha   is  sponsoring   at  least   one   of  the   big   candidates. In such  a scenario, the   electorate   should  be  wise   enough   to   cast  their   votes   for   the   candidate   who  has   since   been endorsed   by   the   Owerri  Peoples  Assembly,  HON. Emeka  Ihedioha  who  is  the   candidate  of   the Peoples Democratic  Party(PDP).  

In  conclusion, I am  calling  on  the  electorate  to  reject  any   member  of  the   present  legislature  who  is  still   planning  to   go  back  to  the   House, They  should  be  rejected  by  voting  for  any  other   candidate  of  their  choice in  those  constituencies. Of special    mention are  some  strategic   state   constituencies   which  are   very  crucial   in this election.  The  State  constituencies   include  Owerri   Municipal  Council  where  the  PDP  candidate,  Hon Macdonald Ebere,   must   be     voted  for.  Another  flashpoint  is  Oguta  State  Constituency  where  the  PDP candidate, HON. William  Ezeikpe,  must  be   voted  for  and  above  all,   Orlu  State  Constituency  where  the  PDP candidate,  Chief  Peter  Okorie,    must  be  voted  for. 

None  of  these   candidates   knows  me   but   they  will   be   very  useful   to   checkmate   the   impunity   of   Governor Okorocha  in  the   very  unlikely  event   of  his   being  returned  to   power. But  there  is  no  option  for  an  HON Emeka Ihedioha   governorship  because  it  is   then  we  will  be  in  a  position  to   know  the  extent  of  damage  that Governor Okorocha  and   the  Dishonourable BEN  Uwajumogu-led  House   have  done  to  the   economy  of  IMO  State Plc. in the last  four  years. In  voting  for  HON  EMEKA  Ihedioha,  let  us   give  him   the  materials   to  work   in  the State Legislature  not  enable  them  unravel the  extent  of  damage  to  IMO  State  in  the  last  four  years  of  Governor Okorocha’s   Mobocracy.

The   ongoing   insinuation  that   Imo  State   needs  a   Governor  in  the  same   political  party  with   President   Buhari is  flawed  and  a   hogwash. Governor  Okorocha   who  a  cross-section  of the   electorate   perceive   to  have  done   well is  not  in  the   party  with   the  president, Goodluck  Jonathan, ;  yet   they  say  he  has   well. Dee  Sam  Mbakwe   who is  on  record  as  the   most  effective   governor  that   ever  ruled  Imo  State     from  October  1st,  1070  to   31st December,  1983,  was   not  in  the  same   political  party  with   then  President  ,Alhaji  Shehu  Shagari. While   Dee Mbakwe,  PHD  was  in  Nigerian  Peoples  Party (NPP),  Alhaji  Shehu  Shagari  was  in  the   National  Party  of  Nigeria (NPN).  

On  the   flip  side,  there  is  a   consensus  that   Chief  Achike  Udenwa  who  was   governor  for  eight  years(May  29th, 1999 -May  29th, 2007)  and  Chief  Ikedi  Ohakim  who  was   governor from  May  29th,  2007  -  May  29th,  2011   performed  below  average  even  though  they   belonged  to  the   President's   party,  the  PDP. So,  the  template  of opposition  governor   has   worked  very  well  for  IMO  State. So,  there  is  no  guarantee  that   if  Okorocha   is  in same party  with  the   President  ,  he  will  be   more  effective. In  fact,  if  Governor  Okorocha   could  brag  that   he did  not believe  in  the   rule  of  law  and  Due  process,  even  when  he  was an  opposition  governor,  one   needs  to   imagine what  he  will  do  with  Imo  State PLC  if  he  is  in  the  same  political  party  with   the  President. 

He will   be  so   temerarious  as  he   will   legitimize  the   present   government  of  Mobocracy   which  he  has   been running  in  Imo  State  since  2011. Above  all,  he  is  likely  to  run  the  IMO  State  PLC   as  a  sole  proprietary     business enterprise . On  a  general   note,  Governor  Okorocha   has      done  well   but  he  will  be   very  dangerous   to Imo  State  as  a  second  tenure  governor. Those  who  describe  him  as  the  most  effective   governor   since  1999 should  not  forget   to  add  that   he  is  also  the   most  corrupt  and  lawless  governor  that  ever  ruled   this  part  of the   country. 

After  four  years  as   governor,  Governor  Okorocha  suddenly  remembered     the   place   of  jobs ,  factories  and industries  in  Imo  State. But  in  his  first  tenure  as   governor  in  1979,  Dee  Sam  Mbakwe  built  over   30  factories   in  Imo  State   as  well  as building   IMO  STATE  UNIVERSITY. In  the  same  vein, Senator   Evan  Enwere  who  was   governor  for  about  18  months   used   his   professional  acumen  as   a   barrister   to   relocate   Imo  State  university   from  Uturu  to   its   present   temporary  site   in  Owerri. Yet, in  four  years,  Governor  Okorocha   is  not  even  able   to build  a   permanent  site  for  Imo  University  in  spite   of  the   huge   annual   fiscal   appropriations   to  IMSU   since 2011.

Please  recall  that   aside   the   fiscal   appropriations  to   IMSU  in  the  yearly  budgets,  the   controversial  4-year   capital   budget   appropriated  a  whopping  sum  of N15 BILLION for  what  was tagged:  “Universities  Permanent  Site.” Another   N22.6bn   was   appropriated to   what was   headed: “School Projects”. 

Umunnem  Ndi  IMO,  where  are   the  school  projects  that  gulped  N22.6 BILLION   and  where  is  the   permanent  site of  IMSU   on  which   a  staggering   sum  of N15 BILLION  was expended? However,  we  are  all  aware  that   Governor Okorocha   spent  a  huge  amount  to  build what  was  to   be   the  permanent  site  of  Imo  State  University(IMSU)  in his  village  Ogboko  in  Ideato  South. But  it  is  a   tragedy  and  lamentable   that   that facility  has   since   become   converted  to   Governor  Okorocha’s  private   university. He shamelessly   calls   it  “European  University Ogboko”. Yet, the people  of  Imo  State   embark  on  a   conspiracy   of  silence  over   the   hegemonic  rule  of   Emperor  Okorocha  who  instead  of  running  a   democracy   is   running  a  mobocracy/Ochlocracy  in  Imo  State. 

That IMSU  facility  at  OGBOKO  must  be  retrieved from  Okorocha   and  rechristened  “Orlu   Campus  of  IMSU”. This   is one of a   myriad of reasons   that   we   must vote   HON.  Emeka  Ihedioha  as   our  new  governor. In  the   classic “How Europe   underdeveloped  Africa”  by RODNEY, a   lot  was  said   about   the  role  of  Europeans in  the underdevelopment  of  Africa,  but  today,  in  Imo  State,  we  have a   case   of  a   group   of  local   colonizers in the legislature and  Executive   arms   of  Imo  State  who  have   destroyed   the   economy  of  IMO  State  since  2011.  

To be   forewarned is to be   forearmed!

John Mgbe, [email protected]