Imo govt accuses Ohakim of N62bn fraud

By CHIDI NKWOPARA

OWERRI—Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has alleged that an interim review of the state account showed that the immediate past administration of Chief Ikedi Ohakim was involved in a staggering N62 billion fraud.

Okorocha, who disclosed this in a 23-page document he read while addressing a cross section of Imo people, also said this was the first part of the findings of the EXCO Committee on account reconciliation.

“The total amount of suspected transactions identified as such, in this first part, amount to about N62 billion.

Okorocha and Ohakim

“This report identifies financial transactions where we observed irregularities from government officials, private companies and even banks and which funds are considered recoverable by the state,” Okorocha said.

Okorocha said that cumulatively, N483.7 billion of the financial resources were available to the state during the period under review.

Reacting to these allegations, Dr. Kelechi Okalaeke, who served as Commissioner for Information and Strategy during Ohakim’s tenure said: “If the Governor has come out with these findings, why did he set up the judicial panel?

“With this development, the governor has obviously pre-empted the outcome of the exercise or has told the panelists where to go.”