Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has said the wealth status of former governors, Sam Mbakwe, Evan Enwerem, Achike Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim, may have been overestimated.
According to him, some of them are living beyond their status as former governors of the state.
Governor Okorocha, who disclosed this in a press statement he issued through his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, said it is wrong for people to conclud that the former governors left office as very rich people. He said none of the former governors should be adjudged rich by any standard.
The governor, earlier in a media chat with newsmen in the state, at the weekend, had promised to build houses for the former governors, who, he said, might be living in a more pitiable condition than imagined.
Okorocha said: “Where is the wealth Sam Mbakwe was said to have accumulated, for which he was imprisoned? Where is the wealth today? You need to see what the children are going through. Where is the wealth Enwerem, Udenwa or Ohakim were said to have acquired?
“Look around and show me where the wealth said to have been accumulated by the former governors are. It is not true. The problem lies with the perception of the people. They have the feeling that once you are a governor, you have got the franchise to acquire wealth, which is far from reality.”
Governor Okorocha also said he has no bank account or house in any part of the world, adding that he does not believe it is the best of actions “to have money in foreign accounts or acquire houses overseas.”
He advised the citizenry not to see all their leaders as corrupt, but try as much as they can to appreciate them.