Imo Governor denies buying Private Jets, says he owned jets before being a Governor.

Imo Governor, Rochas okorocha.

The Imo State government has read with dismay reports in the media quoting workers in the State to have claimed that the State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha had bought private Jets and
should sell them and use the money to pay them their salaries.

Private jet.

Even before the media reports, such falsehood had been the stock in trade, in some quarters in the State.
Therefore, as a government, we want to deny with high sense of honesty that since May 29, 2011 when Owelle Rochas Okorocha became governor, he has never bought any private Jet either directly or through any proxy. And having now made this denial, let those behind the allegation make their facts public to fault our denial.

  
The period Owelle Okorocha bought Jets was years before his becoming governor, during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime when some of the Presidential Jets were auctioned. The governor bought Jets then under the aegis of Lamonde Aviation, alongside few other Nigerians. Since he became governor, he has never bought any private Jet.

Again, the Debit Management Agency Penultimate Week published the States and their respective debt profiles. And in the case of Imo State, they published N37 billion which was far from the hundreds
of billions the opponents of the government have been claiming to be the debt status of the State. And the N37 billion debt including the ones by the last administrations. The good story is that we have been vindicated on that.

The labour leaders in the state had also, among other false claims, published that the government owes the Civil Servants, teachers and local Government workers in the State three months arrears of
salaries. This is not true. The government has paid the Civil Servants, teachers and local Government workers upto the month of June. The government has not also sold any of the parastatals as
falsely claimed. We stand to be challenged on all these.

The government has also observed that because of the people-oriented policy of the State governor vis-a-via the State government to allow indigenes of the State to fully exercise their freedom of
expression without harassment, some elements in the State and some media houses have been relying on that development to be blackmailing the governor and the government by publishing glaring falsehood against them.

For this reason, the government has decided to begin to explore the law of the land to check these lies or falsehood. Since 2011, the governor or the government has never taken any legal action against anybody or establishment over these unfortunate lies, but has now decided to be doing that since that is the only way the truth or otherwise of these allegations can be unveiled.

All the same, the Rescue Mission government in the State shall continue to work tirelessly to develop the State and her people not minding these distractions, since truth will always over-shadow falsehood.

Sam Onwuemeodo
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor