The Imo State Government has clashed with the former governor of the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha over the reported relocation of Owerri Correctional Centre which was attacked earlier this month.
Okorocha had in a statement by his spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo, alleged that Uzodinma had ordered the relocation of the correctional facility to Port Harcourt Road in Owerri.
However, Governor Hope Uzodinma through the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, asked Okorocha” to stop lying to the people and concentrate on his criminal matter before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.”
Okorocha said: “We have received with enthusiasm and excitement, the good news, that the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, has ordered that the Owerri prison (correctional centre) be relocated to the befitting prison built by Senator Okorocha, along Aba Road, when he was governor.
“We also want to appeal to the governor that, in line with the new spirit, he should move the police headquarters to the ultra-modern police headquarters, equally built by Okorocha, located close to the prison headquarters, along Aba Road.
“The governor should, in the same token, open the gigantic Orji flyover, equally built by Okorocha, which its closure was politically motivated.”
But the commissioner described Okorocha’s claim as a “tissue of lies.”
Emelumba said, “Onwuemeodo (Okorocha) has no power and capacity to speak for the Imo State Government. The governor never ordered the relocation of the correctional facility. Only the minister of interior can do that.
“Okorocha should concentrate on how to defend his criminal matter before the EFCC and not to lie to the public. The representative of the minister of interior had inspected the facility built by the Okorocha administration and saw that the facility is in a very bad state. It is not a facility you just move in. You need to do a lot of work.”
