Q: There are many conflicting stories coming out from Imo State about you; kindly tell us what you know?
A: Ordinarily I would not have granted this interview but at this point it has become absolutely necessary that I speak to the people of Imo State who freely, a little less than two years ago gave me their mandate that ushered me in as the deputy governor of Imo state. I owe them a duty at this point in time in the history of our state given what is going on, to let them know what has actually transpired.
It is a known fact that the media are awash with stories of the goings-on in the state.
First of all, let me start by addressing the issue of resignation of the deputy governor of Imo State. I put on record and very categorically that at no point in time have I contemplated ever resigning as deputy governor of Imo state.
As I stated earlier, the mandate was freely and massively given me by the people of Imo State as their deputy governor. I still owe them duties today. I never resigned and I do not intend to resign. I will continue to serve the people of Imo State as long as their mandates subsist.
Q: There is this question about what led to the stories of your resignation and non-resignation and the stories in the public domain now that you are being impeached by the Imo State House of Assembly?
A: The matter borders on the issues of allegations by a construction company that I received bribe money to the tune of N458m. I also want to use this opportunity to state in very clear terms that at no pointin time did I demand N458m or any sum of money at that from any company or contractor whatsoever in Imo state, and a tno time did the contractor J-Pros (Joseph Dina) pay me the cumulative sum of N458m as alleged by him.
Let me state this here how this whole issue started: J-Pros is the contractor that is doing the job on the present day Sam Mbakwe Road. Prior to his commencement of work in Imo State on Sam Mbakwe Road, I never knew the construction company, the owners of the construction company or the major holders of the construction company. They were a company that was introduced to the state by the governor who issued and gave the permission for the award ofthe contract to the tune of 1.5bn. A contract of this magnitude can only be issued through the approval of the governor. Such approval was sought by me as the commissioner in the ministry of works and gotten to award the contract to J-Pros International Limited.
Thereafter in the month of February 2012, while I was away on a state duty in India, the permanent secretary in the ministry of works applied for the final approval of the job (so that the governor will give his final approval for the job of N1.5bn); the governor gave his approval and went beyond and gave the approval for the payment of N1.5bn to the contractor via the ministry of finance and the ministry of works. Incidentally his approval was communicated to the commissioner of finance who instead of routing the N1.5bn tothe coffers of works ministry for onward certification by raising of vouchers to pay to the construction company after due processes would have beenfulfilled, the money was routed through the office of the accountant general and paid directly to the contractor, J-Pros Ltd. So at no point did I give the approval, for the payment of the money. At no point did I communicate the approval of the payment, and at no point did I pay the contractor. So the question that comes to mind: why would this contractor pay me N458m; for doing what? I heard from him when I went to the House of Assembly that he paid me N458m in anticipation of a job that I will offer to him in the local government. I was the commissioner for ministry of works; the commissioner in the ministry of works never issues jobs in the local governments. The chairmen of local governments issue jobs in the local governments. I never issued till date one single contract in any local government. So how could this contractor have paid me in anticipation of something I was not in the position to give? Anyhow, to cut the long story short, he said that I conveyed instructions to him via SMS to his phone in the month of April and the month of June 2012 stating the companies, account numbers and the banks to pay the sum of N235m and the sum of N133m, respectively. I state here, also categorically and the records can be gotten from MTN(the carriers of the mobile network I use) that at no point did I convey to this man, Joseph Dina, via SMS to pay money to me or to any account, any bank, any sum of money whatsoever.
So his story is completely false and spurious and intended to malign my person.
GUYS, WHAT DO YOU THINK?