The former Director General of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Re-election Campaign in 2015, Barrister Iheukwumere Alaribe has been asked to account for funds committed to him in the just concluded 2023 General elections.
Alaribe, who also served as a Commissioner in Okorocha’s first term as governor of Imo State, was appointed as the APC Aboh Mbaise LGA Campaign Council Chairman in early 2023.
Some Imo APC stalwarts allege that the former Campaign Council Chairman deliberately deprived APC canvassers and booth workers of needed funds that were given to him by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, reportedly withholding over 15 Million Naira out of over 40 Million Naira that was given to him by Governor Hope Uzodimma and some sons and daughters of Aboh Mbaise LGA who donated money to the Campaign Council.
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The rest of the over forty million Naira was reportedly divided into two other private accounts that belonged to Barrister Ogechi Njoku-Ehirim (the woman SOLAD of Aboh Mbaise LGA) and Mr. Tony Awusaku (the party Chairman of APC in Aboh Mbaise).
As a result of what some APC stakeholders call Alaribe’s “sabotage,” the party lost elections in several booths in Aboh Mbaise LGA. Many leaders are now calling on the Aba-based lawyer to account for the funds given to him by the Governor and some party stakeholders.
According to sources familiar with the development, during one of the campaign council meetings before the elections, some sons and daughters of Aboh Mbaise donated money to the campaign council. The highest pledge reportedly was made by the Imo State Commissioner for Homeland Security and Vigilante Affairs, Dr. Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji. Others who pledged were Alaribe himself, Njoku-Ehirim, Chief Okechukwu Ulokwe (a real estate developer) Awusaku, and others.
Two of those who pledged funds revealed that they were asked to send the donation to Alaribe’s private account, which they did. Those donations are now part of the campaign funds that remain unaccounted for.
However, what is worrisome to many leaders in Aboh Mbaise APC is the allegation that Alaribe may have been a Rochas Okorocha mole in the APC campaign council set up by Governor Hope Uzodimma. Alaribe is also alleged to have been axed by Okorocha after the 2015 election for actions unbecoming of a DG. He was subsequently avoided by APC faithfuls in Aboh Mbaise until he suddenly was announced as Aboh Mbaise Campaign Council Chairman.
In a related development, the 12 Government Ward Liaison Officers (GWLOs) in Aboh Mbaise met on Friday, June 23, 2023, where they collectively called on Barrister Iheukwumere Alaribe to quickly call a leadership meeting and account for the funds under his custody.
In a renewed resolve to hold political leaders accountable for the common patrimony, many young professionals in Aboh Mbaise APC have recommended the exemplary transparency and accountability of the Imo State Commissioner for Homeland Security and Vigilante Affairs as a model for other leaders.
In a statement by Mr. McDonald Unamba, the GWLO for Ahiato in Aboh Mbaise, he said “The Hon Commissioner has cleared his own name by giving a comprehensive and laudable account of that which he was given… Someone should stand on this established standard set up here now, and do himself or herself a favour. Thank you our great leader, Hon Chief Dr Ugorji Okechukwu Ugorji, for setting up this wonderful standard. May God bless you sir.”
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