*Threatens Legal Action*
A former Commissioner in Imo State, Dr Fabian Ihekweme has been accused of being sponsored by a businessman and serial governorship candidate in the state to rubbish the image of Governor Hope Uzodimma ahead of the 2027 elections in Imo.
The politician was said to have met with Dr Ihekweme last week in Abuja where the sum of Fifty Million Naira was released to him ” for a satisfactory job so far” while a balance of the same amount is to be paid shortly making it a total of N100m Naira.
Mr Marvis Udechukwu, Executive Director of Imo Democratic Alliance for Transparency,dropped the bombshell in a news conference in Abuja.
He said the investigation carried out by his group revealed that ” Ihekweme is nothing but a cheap mercenary whose sponsors have been exposed “
He disclosed that because of the gravity of the allegations Ihekweme had been heaping on Uzodimma, the group was planning a legal action against him.
According to him, ” although most of what he has written against His Excellency amount to criminal libel, we intend to institute an action in court for him to prove the allegations since it is trite law that he who alleges, proves”
Udechukwu noted that contrary to the image of a civil rights crusader which Ihekweme had been falsely selling to Imo people, he was nothing but a mercenary after his pecuniary gains.
He wondered why Ihekweme as a Commissioner under Uzodimma failed to resign if indeed those allegations against the Governor were true.
” Why did he have to wait until he was sacked that he discovered that there were anomalies and misappropriation of funds in the government? Again, this is the same man who as late as October last year campaigned for the reelection of Uzodimma as governor. Was he not aware of the shortcomings in government or his eyes opened when he was not appointed the secretary to the government as he had boasted to his friends?, Udechukwu asked.
He accused Ihekweme of making himself a tool for the destabilisation of Imo State government because of failed ambition.
He announced that the group was also planning for the prosecution of Ihekweme for the crimes for which he was removed as a commissioner, especially the ones concerning the theft and sales of government’s property.
According to him, Ihekweme has made himself the enemy of the state by aligning with those who want to distract the governor from his focus of finishing strong ahead of 2027.
” We know that they want to soil the image of the governor so that he won’t be in a position to support a successor in 2027. For a mess of porridge, Ihekweme is ready to do anything. Unfortunately for him, we have caught him red handed and he must have his day in court “, Udechukwu insisted.