Ohakim Alleges Threat To His Life

Former Imo State governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim has cried out against
alleged threats to his life.

Ohakim, in a statement made available to THISDAY on Saturday, said
throughout his tenure in office as governor of Imo State, there was no
political assassination, but that contrary to the goodwill that
existed while he was in office he has since become an object of
attacks and ridicule.

According to him,"Nigerians will recall that on May 15, 2014, directly
after I declared interest to re-contest the governorship election of
my state, my only house in Owerri was bombed in what was evidently, an
attempt to assassinate me. Still, let me state that in spite of the
misadventure of some of these elements who see me as their only
obstacle to'greatness', I remain committed to the peace, progress and
stability of Imo state in particular and Nigeria in general.

"Throughout my tenure as governor, we never hunted political
opponents. There was no political assassination, no arson, no official
of government disappeared. There was no impeachment of any kind or
threat of impeachment. No senatorial zone complained of
marginalisation," Ohakim said.

"On June 1, 2015, I travelled out of the country by LH 595 operated by
Lufthansa with seat number 04K to honour a medical appointment and
also attend my daughter's graduation at the Royal College of Surgeons
in Ireland. On June 02, 2015, a newspaper posted a headline that I had
been apprehended and taken to custody by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) for fraud and misappropriation of public
funds.

"On inquiry, I discovered that the story was taken to the newspaper in
question by an aide of a top politician in my state, Imo.
Instructively, the story was carried by only the newspaper in
question. A few days later, the same aide of the supposedly top
politician took another fake news to some media houses that I sneaked
abroad to dispose of my properties because of bankruptcy."

What is playing out, Ohakim said, began with a petition against him to
the EFCC by the same desperate politician in his state.

According to him,"The petition was written by a group he fabricated
that goes by the name, Alliance for Good Governance.

Those who are conversant with the politics of Imo state would recall
that it was this same group that constituted itself into a vicious
gang-up against my administration. It was this group, the Alliance for
Good Governance that sold the lie that I molested a Catholic Priest in
Imo state.

"It was the same group that carried out the failed public
demonstration against me in front of the EFCC Headquarters in Abuja."

It was the same group, led by this same politician, that was used by
those who were bent on denying me my victory at the April 26, 2011
governorship election, to kidnap an INEC returning officer, one Mr.
Ngozi Nwoko, and took him to Bolingo Hotel, Onitsha, Anambra state,
where he was locked up, thus preventing him from turning in the
results from Ohaji-Egbema local government area which put me in a
clear lead.

"The kidnap of Nwoko was the first script that led to the so-called
supplementary election of May 6, 2011 during which the final script
was acted out," Ohakim added.

—THISDAY Live