Okorocha accuses Ohakim of N62bn fraud

Imo State Government has accused former state Governor Ikedi Ohakim of misappropriating about N62bn belonging to the state during his tenure.

The alleged fraud was contained in the report of a committee headed by the state Deputy Governor, Mr. Jude Agbaso, and presented to Governor Rochas Okorocha on Tuesday in Owerri.

The committee reconciled the state government’s account between June 2007 and May 2011 when Ohakim was the governor.

The committee in the report for instance, accused Ohakim of borrowing N6bn from United Bank for Africa in March 2011 without authorisation and spending the same as security vote.

It added that the former governor spent N14bn as security vote against the N9.2bn budgeted for the period under review.

The report, which accused Ohakim of arbitrary transfer and withdrawal of funds from state purse, added that he paid billions of naira to consultants, who never did their jobs.

Okorocha, who said the report was actionable, promised to recover the misappropriated funds.

But an aide to the former governor, Mr. Kelechukwu Okpaleke, dismissed the report as a “joke” and the public presentation, a “jamboree”.

According to him, the exercise displays the desperation of Okorocha to undermine Ohakim at all costs.