Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo State

Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo State says the State Government has no outstanding debts with any bank within or outside the country.

Mr Sam Onwuemeodo, the Chief Press Secretary to Okorocha disclosed this in a statement in Owerri on Wednesday.
Onwuemeodo urged banks with claims to come forward with evidence of the transaction within seven days.

He also advised contractors who have claims of unpaid bills to report to the Office of the Secretary to the Government (SSG) with relevant papers before May 29.

Onwuemeodo said the invitation is made to prevent dubious claims after the governor hands over, adding that employees of the state civil service have been paid up to February.

“Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s administration has never borrowed money from any bank either within or outside the country and we challenge any bank with contrary claim to openly indicate and give details of such transaction for the public to know within seven days. Again, the Okorocha led administration is not owing any contractor and if any contractor has any claim in the contrary he or she should immediately go to the Office of the SSG with the relevant papers before May 29″.

“We are doing this so that people will not come after the governor has left office to lie against him or make dubious claims. We also want to state that the state government has paid workers’ salaries up to February 2019 and the payment of March salaries is about to commence. In other words, the state government is not owing any outstanding salary,” he said.

He went on to urge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to come forward with any evidence it might have contradicting the claim.

“Owing to Okorocha’s monumental achievements, opponents of the administration have always erroneously concluded that he must have borrowed heavily from the banks. We have come up with this position because the PDP is synonymous with falsehood and propaganda; even as a party, if they know any bank the government has borrowed one naira from, they should mention the bank and state the particulars of the transaction so that interested persons can verify,” he said. (NAN)