Nwosu, Ihedioha trade blames over hand-over in Imo

The controversy surrounding the handing over of former governor Rochas Okorocha, to his successor, Emeka Ihedioha, has taken a new dimension as the governorship candidate of the Action Alliance in the 2019 governorship election in Imo state, Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, has accused the current governor of avoiding his predecessor the moment he was announced as governor-elect.

Nwosu debunked allegations by Governor Emeka Ihedioha that Okorocha did not hand over to him, saying that proper handover was made to officials of the current government as Ihedioha avoided meeting Okorocha.

Ihedioha, while inaugurating the Secretary to State Government, Uche Onyeagucha and Chief of Staff, Chris Okewulonu, had said that nobody handed over to him and gave the permanent secretaries a 24-hour ultimatum to prepare proper hand-over notes.

But Nwosu told our correspondent that the assertion was far from the truth and accused Ihedioha of chasing after shadows in his recent actions.

He said, “I was present when former governor called Ihedioha for a meeting. He said he was travelling and would meet with him when he came back. He never did. In fact, he avoided Okorocha like a plague and a handover note had to be given to the most senior official.

However, Ihedioha, through his Chief Press Secretary, Chibuike Onyeukwu, said that the fact that Okorocha admitted that Ihedioha avoided him confirmed that he (Okorocha) did not hand over to his successor.

Onyeukwu said, “We all saw on the national television where Okorocha’s principal secretary said that there was no proper handover.

“When the governor was setting up the transition committee, he intimated in writing to the former governor to send representatives, but there was no response.

“He (Okorocha) called the governor and he told him that he had an engagement in Germany and asked him to liaise with the chairman of the transition committee, again the former governor did not.

From the foregoing, it is clear that Okorocha had no intention of handing over to his successor,” Onyeukwu added.