Tunji Adedeji
Barely few hours before Imo Summit for Recovery of Looted state Assets from Rochas Okorocha ,relatives and cronies, Dr. Sam Amadi Associate Professor of Law, Baze University, Abuja has opened up on why he boycotted the summit and refused to be part of the advertised political program as a speaker.
Amadi said “I will not attend. I will not speak. I do not believe that recovering public assets from Rochas Okorocha requires political rallies and conferences.”
Amadi made this disclosure in a release he signed and made available to journalists in Owerri on Wednesday.
He enjoined Gov Uzodinma to start corruption fight with Rochas Okorocha administration but not leaving out Ikedi Ohakim and Achike Udenwa administrations as the case may be.
Amadi opined that Previous administrations should be similarly investigated in respect of illegal and improper acquisition of public land and other public assets.
According to the 2019 Imo Gubernatorial Aspirant “I fully support the efforts of the present administration in Imo State to recover stolen assets of the state from former governors and their privies, especially Senator Rochas Okorocha who was governor from 2011 to 2019 and under whose leadership Imo State witnessed the most rapacious confiscation of public land and other assets in unlawful exercise of executive power. I was partly involved in efforts to stop him from evicting retired academics from their lawful residences at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education towards the dying days of his administration. He never respected court orders in this rabid acquisition. “
“I have publicly declared that every reasonable administration should consider it a matter of priority to recover such assets through vigorous invocation of rule of law. The present efforts by the Hope Uzodinma administration are based on the report of a panel of inquiry set up by the Emeka Ihedioha administration. The report of the panel was turned into a White Paper and adopted by the State Executive and approved by the House of Assembly.”
” The report of the Ihedioha panel extends beyond the administration of Rochas Okorocha. The panel report and the White Paper arising therefrom should form a legal framework to recover those assets through the due process of law. What is expected of the Hope Uzodinma administration is to take further legal and legislative actions to implement the White Paper through transparent and reviewable administrative actions based on objective criteria.”
“The efforts to recover stolen or improperly acquired lands and other assets that belong to Imo State should not be limited to Rochas Okorocha’s administration. Previous administrations should be similarly investigated in respect of illegal and improper acquisition of public land and other public assets. Imo State is a terribly governed state. Its previous Governors have been largely corrupt and incompetent. They brutalized and bruised the hapless citizens mercilessly, with the support of a supine and mercantilist political class. This is the opportunity for the Hope Uzodinma’s administration, in spite of its disreputable pedigree and emergence, to rise to the occasion to provide relief for the besieged Imo people. Let us start with Rochas Okorocha administration but not leaving out Ikedi Ohakim and Achike Udenwa administrations as the case may be.
“I have also started in the past that recovering allegedly looted assets from Rochas Okorocha and anyone else is not a political project and does not require an engaging and distracting political fight. It is a matter of legal and legislative procedures. It should not be another opportunity for corrupt Imo politicians to mount another political initiative to steal public funds, distract the government from its responsibility and, deceive the people to embrace political rhetoric instead of effective governance. “
“So far, this government has not shown any real understanding of the challenges of development and governance in Imo State. It has not announced any policy initiative that is transformative. The mantra of 3RRs exposes the ill-preparation and lack of intensity of the administration. “
“The government needs all the attention it can summon and does not need a political fight that merely creates opportunity for mercantilist Imo politicians to make a living at the expense of the impoverished Imo citizens.”
“It is in the light of the foregoing that I will not be part of the advertised political summit as a speaker. I will not attend. I will not speak. I do not believe that recovering public assets from Rochas Okorocha requires political rallies and conferences.”
“The Emeka Ihedioha administration proceeded in the right way by resort to legal and legislative framework. Hope Uzodinma did well to continue on that path. He should remain on tract and not veer off in political summitry that will create a sandstorm that may cover the failure to effectively govern. We need clear actions that will ensure all those properties are recovered from Rochas Okorcha and others and also that Governor Hope Uzodinma and his own cronies do not repeat the theft and illegalities that Rochas Okorocha and his cronies are alleged to have committed for 8 years. “
