Former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday stated that the Prof. Jude Njoku-led Committee on the review of Newly Established Tertiary Institutions, lacked the mandate to annex or downgrade universities.
Okorocha also told his successor, Emeka Ihedioha, to stop destroying his legacies as he was not elected governor to fight him.
Reacting to the take over of Eastern Palm University, Ogboko, by the state government Okorocha, in a statement issued in Owerri by his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, insisted that the committee had no right to scrap some universities and polytechnics he established while he was governor of the state.
Okorocha explained that the Eastern Palm university, Ogboko was built through Public Private Partnership arrangement.
The statement said “Going by the
nomenclature and task given to the Committee, which is Committee on the review of Newly Established Tertiary Institutions”, the Chairman, Prof. Njoku exceeded the job of the Committee by announcing the immediate takeover of the Eastern Palm University and scrapping all the tertiary institutions built by Okorocha.
“What was expected of the committee at the end of its assignment was to submit their findings or reports to the governor, who would then hand over the report to the Attorney-General of the State, to look at all the legal ingredients involved in the establishment of the universities and others, before making any specific pronouncement on them.
“Prof. Njoku’s action only showed the speed and zeal with which the government of the day wants to destroy all the landmark projects of the APC government in the State which Senator Okorocha had headed.
“Right from the outset, Okorocha had continued to say that the Eastern Palm University was a PPP venture. And what the government would have done in the circumstance was to look at the whole scenario including the legal undertones and then take the appropriate action in the overall interest of the State, her people and humanity in general.
“Equally, scrapping the six Universities, four Polytechnics and three Colleges of Education built by Okorocha’s government, which have already taken off, with befitting structures on ground and their operational licences gotten, was obviously counter-productive. It was not the best of actions.
“The government would have looked at the ideas or vision behind the building of the institutions and their advantages both short-term, and long-term and then take things easy with them, in lieu of being hasty in scrapping them.
“Obviously, the governor was looking at the man behind the Institutions, Okorocha, instead of looking at their in-built merits both now and in the nearest future.
“We want to let Governor Ihedioha know that Okorocha had done eight years as governor and cannot be governor again. He should stop acting as if he is in contest with the former governor. We are saying this because the zeal with which the governor has been destroying and discrediting all that the former governor laboured to put in place, has become worrisome to all Imo people, and others too.
“All the facilities Okorocha used to beautify Owerri, the State Capital, have all been removed as if INEC announced him governor for the sake of removing or destroying all that Okorocha built.”
“It is also worth mentioning that since his inauguration as governor he has not been able to do any other thing apart from inspecting, removing, destroying and discrediting all that Okorocha did, which means, we didn’t lie when we claimed that Okorocha had more than one thousand verifiable projects as governor.
“We appeal to Governor Ihedioha to take things easy and think deeply before acting on issues instead of doing otherwise.”
