By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—The Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has commended the three senators from the state for “the patriotic role they played in seeing that the ministerial nominee from the state, Prof. Anthony Gozie Anwuka, went through the screening and confirmation of the Senate without any hitch.”

Prof. Anthony Gozie Anwuka

The three senators in question are, Senator Hope Uzodinma for Orlu zone, Senator Samuel Anyanwu for Owerri zone and Senator Athan Achonu for Okigwe zone.

The governor, who stated this while speaking to journalists in Owerri, also said that the way the Senate handled Prof. Anwuka’s screening and confirmation showed that there was no opposing voice from any of the senators from the state.

“The action of the Imo Senators was, and still is, an indication that they had put the interest of the state and her people above political party interests”, Okorocha said.

The Governor also opined that the screening and confirmation of Prof. Anwuka’s nomination was an interesting one, adding that it was one of the easiest carried out by the Senate as the three Imo Senators gave their cooperation in the interest of the state.

He debunked the rumour making the rounds in some quarters that he gave some financial inducements to the three Senators, before they acted patriotically in favour of Professor Anwuka.

“The truth is that such falsehood died on arrival because the amount bandied by the rumour peddlers is very ridiculous because if the senators had wanted to take money for that purpose, they would have talked about hundreds of millions”, Okorocha reasoned.

While describing the report as “totally false”, Okorocha however recalled that a journalist sought to know if he induced the Senators before Anwuka was cleared.

He also recalled that he told the journalist that he would like the key politicians in the state to come together to support President Muhammadu Buhari to enable the state gain from the government at the centre.