blacksta:

We all agree that it is possible because of the Nigerian factor - but it is not Legal for a bank to receive directive from a not yet sworn in governor.  hence because of the illegal directive salaries wont be paid

I'm not sure the outgoing government has anymore salaries to pay. In an idle situation, they should be working together right now to ensure a smooth transition but don't forget what happened in 2007 when several governors ran to late president Yar'adua for help due to their inability to pay workers. Why? Simply because nothing was left in the state account when they were swore in, a typical example of this was Murtala Nyako and Babangida Aliyu of Adamawa and Niger state respectively. It's more of a precautionary measure considering such has happened in the past.

@POST

If the alleged report about Chief Okorocha’s Chief of Staff, Prince Eze Madumere’s letter to all the banks dealing with the state government placing embargo on the accounts until the governor-elect, is sworn in on May 29, 2011 is remotely true, I shall reiterate the fact Nigerians have no business in democracy and also believe what a poster had written in previous post that Okorocha’s government could be worse than Ohakim.

So called Chief Okorocha’s Chief of Staff, Prince Eze Madumere has no business writing any bank official about the business of Imo State until Okorocha is sworn-in as governor of Imo State. Why is Chief of Staff, Prince Eze Madumere solely concerned about money? Is he thinking about looting when the governor-elect is not yet the executive officer of Imo State?

Rochas Okorocha’s and Okahim’s transitional teams should be huddling for smooth handover of Imo State government affairs. No side should engage in exchange of letters with bank executive in the state chasing money. I guess there is no change insight for Nigerians.

@ Dede
I dont know anything about you, but your post smacks of being very ignorant about the actions and inactions of our politicians. Politics in Nigeria is all about the money, all of them outgoing are all interested in last minute grabbing. How many of them corrupt politicians have been successfully convicted for looting and mismanagement of public fund (apart from the ones that fell out of favour). If i where to be in Okorochas shoe, with the way politicians behave in Nigeria( looting and stealing) i wont only write to the bank, i will also announce in NTA,CNN, Aljazeerah etc. that any bamk that honour any cheques is on its own. Even if its for the salaries of the worker, workers have gone without salaries for months before, only a month longer this time around wont kill them. Go to the goverments offices of outgoing and you be amazed at the way back dated memos are springing up for contract that was never awarded.

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Okorocha, until he is sworn in by State Chief judge as the substantive governor is no different from the ordinary citizen on the street, and for him to seek to prematurely exercise powers yet to be bestowed upon him is a disconcerting sign of events to come.

as for the attempt to justify the move as his way of preempting last minute grabbing by politicians on their way out, my response is why not allow the law take its course? Are there not provisions for dealing with such officials once they are stripped of their immunity?

All those who are not in support of what Okorocha did are not in touch with the looting nature of our politicians. What he did was illegal but right.

maddock:

@ Dede
I dont know anything about you, but your post smacks of being very ignorant about the actions and inactions of our politicians. Politics in Nigeria is all about the money, all of them outgoing are all interested in last minute grabbing. How many of them corrupt politicians have been successfully convicted for looting and mismanagement of public fund (apart from the ones that fell out of favour). If i where to be in Okorochas shoe, with the way politicians behave in Nigeria( looting and stealing) i wont only write to the bank, i will also announce in NTA,CNN, Aljazeerah etc. that any bamk that honour any cheques is on its own. Even if its for the salaries of the worker, workers have gone without salaries for months before, only a month longer this time around wont kill them. Go to the goverments offices of outgoing and you be amazed at the way back dated memos are springing up for contract that was never awarded.

Bros where do we start to practice the “spirit of change” that lingers on the lips of everybody Imo State? Simply because Ohakim is wrong does not encourage Okorocha to be wrong too. I think the instance of ignorance could rest on the fact you stated that government of Imo State or Nigeria is all about looting and stealing money hence the moral germination and observing all the principles of democracy are co-signed to a waste bin.

I guess going to NTA, CNN, Aljazeerah etc is political grandstanding and very childish. By your standard, Okoroacha would have gone to court, police and army to arrest Ohakim when he was a mere nominee of APGA. For goodness sake, we are trying to borrow the game of democracy from the USA and it is very shameful that my people think that mere casting of vote represents such endeavor.

Rochas Okorocha is not yet governor of Imo State and his so-called Chief of Staff has no imaginable authority to write letter to banks in the state on the behalf of Imo State when the Rochas Okorocha has not been sworn-in as governor. I guess everything born of snake has long tail.

Mai Suya:

Okorocha, until he is sworn in by State Chief judge as the substantive governor is no different from the ordinary citizen on the street, and for him to seek to prematurely exercise powers yet to be bestowed upon him is a disconcerting sign of events to come.

as for the attempt to justify the move as his way of preempting last minute grabbing by politicians on their way out, my response is why not allow the law take its course? Are there not provisions for dealing with such officials once they are stripped of their immunity?

I guess there are few of us who are willing to give democracy a chance. Why would some of these people congregate at hall of democracy when they can not observer the simplest doctrine of the system?

@mai suya,
pls allow okorocha. What u r saying is what it should be but when u r in a country where looters are governors then u must go the extra mile to catch them. Which of the governors in the past has been imprisoned for looting? The corruption charges against them seems to have been forgotten. Pls keep your due process in waiting until we begin to have credible men in power.

alexleo:

@mai suya,
pls allow okorocha. What u r saying is what it should be but when u r in a country where looters are governors then u must go the extra mile to catch them. Which of the governors in the past has been imprisoned for looting? The corruption charges against them seems to have been forgotten. Pls keep your due process in waiting until we begin to have credible men in power.

Do you still feel democracy should be given a chance? From your perspectives, I guess coup would have served us better since the disposed governors should have been shot if they did not balance state’s ledger books.

This is one solid move we rarely witness. Ibo men too get sense.

[b]If Okorocha "just give the banks a hint" as to the line of action he wants implemented that hint would be made into a "fatwa" and a " currency" by the banks who would in turn react to any sudden and un-welcome request by the Ohakim regime with disdain treating such request as a pariah one not worthy of their time let alone honouring it.

The cold shoulder given to Governor Ohakim might be in the way of feigning a loss in communication between the two parties, the banks knowing they can hold-on for at least another 2 weeks b4 all hell break loose in this end game of brinkmanship between the state and the banks.

Obviously spurious communique from HQ could be presented to the Governor as an order from almighty HQ in Lagos insisting to "whom it may concern" that  all transaction above a certain amount needs to be put on hold untill after the inuguartion effectively excluding any sudden request an incumbent Governor can make. 

Under normal circumstances a 2 weeks wait is no wait in Nigeria when you are almost certain and guranteed of  getting the funds, no Governor would knock his/her  head on a brick-wall over such a wait but on this occasion the incumbent would  know he has been cornered and caged like an antelpoe that has little or no other choice but to accept the hopelessness of his sitiuation.

That would be a win-win situation for both Rochas and the Bank.
[/b]

If this true, it is tantamount to running a parallel government when there is a legitimate one on seat and that is TREASON!

I am sure Okorocha knows better than that being a lawyer.

maddock:

Na wah for una o. There is no argument here at all, as a Bank MD you dont need to be a guru to know that the main ""koko"is the word of the Incoming (Okorocha) and not the outgoing (Ohakim). Okorocha does not need to go to court to freeze the account by mere pronouncing it all banks supposed arrange themselves. Or else be rest assured that the next 4 years no goverment deposits. So tell me if you are the bank MD would you ignore the directive?

maddock has hit the nail on the head. Bank MD's are no fools. They are in for business. Ohakim's era has passed. These Bank MD's cannot afford to loose government business for the next four or possibly eight years. They can keep playing Ohakim for the next two weeks by begging or telling him to understand their predicament. bank no be charity oh!

maddock:

Na wah for una o. There is no argument here at all, as a Bank MD you dont need to be a guru to know that the main ""koko"is the word of the Incoming (Okorocha) and not the outgoing (Ohakim). Okorocha does not need to go to court to freeze the account by mere pronouncing it all banks supposed arrange themselves. Or else be rest assured that the next 4 years no goverment deposits. So tell me if you are the bank MD would you ignore the directive?

true. In some cases you have to tell the law F*ck You.

Hi people, every one of us would agreed that if Rochas' aid did this, it so wrong but some of us resident in Owerri will agree with the action. Are we sure that the cheques will ne used to pay salaries (GHOST WORKERS)? I have SEEN this govt sell over 10 truks of fetilizer ment for farmers in the state to Northerners, seen the proposed Imo Refinery started, completed and commisioned on paper while the thick forest site is still d same way, Imo wonder lake, over 400km of roads fully completed on TV, with many bridges built and non of them standing physically except on bill boards and good use of autocard adverts on tv, I can go on and on till u become sick. He came in and imherrited less than 100 million in debt but leaving with nothing less than 120 BILLION NAIRA for who to pay? Rochas is just making hay while the sun is still shinning. Pls banks don't honour any of 'his' cheques or u'll have ur account officers to sack. Imo indeed is in the hands of God.

@dede, mind u that democracy is the government of the people. So' if the people find okorocha's policy okay, that's it. U need not to go about in borrowing people's style of democracy cos our culture differs and so is our interests. Okay, can u go ahead in adopting the USA's policy of separation, whereby, our senate president will be our vice president? U know that one will not work in our ethnically diversed society cos of zoning conciousness. We are africans, so shall our governments be.

Ohakim might be corrupt and so on, but the truth there is that Okorocha does not have the powers to freeze any state account because he has not assumed the mantle of leadership until after handing over. Guys this story does not make sense, newspapers with there crazy stories, its simply a joke.

In as much as what okorocha is doing is wrong by law but important due to d doctrine of necessity. At foreigners reading this, Comon dis is nigeria, where d president can withhold a state govs(lagos)allocation due to political differences, a country where six,6 sitting state legislator can suspend 14 majority and pass a debt bond of 100billion naira for a state gov(ogun state), a country where a gov flogs his critic and rev.fathers with horsewhip(imo state) pls i rest my case. rochas go on.

dat good

Okorocha does not need any power to stop imo state account. He can just warn the banks, trust our bankers, they will use bureaucratic process to keep Ohakim in check.

Most banks will shift loyalty to Okorocha, unless they want to lose their biggest customer( State), so Ohakim is an old story as far as banks are concern.

I bet you, after May 29, Ohakim will stay for 4 days, he phone has not rang. That's politics, always permanent interest.

kasiem:

@dede, mind u that democracy is the government of the people. So' if the people find okorocha's policy okay, that's it. U need not to go about in borrowing people's style of democracy cos our culture differs and so is our interests. Okay, can u go ahead in adopting the USA's policy of separation, whereby, our senate president will be our vice president? U know that one will not work in our ethnically diversed society cos of zoning conciousness. We are africans, so shall our governments be.

Bros, I am mindful that democracy is the government of people based on the laws. The last time I checked though, democracy is not the government of Okorocha. I can not remember when referendum was passed in Imo State allowing a person who is not yet a governor to issue gubernatorial directives. So your use of the language “people find okorocha's policy okay” is not only ridiculous but downright disingenuous. 

If we are not borrowing USA style of democracy, what the hell are we doing with executive governor? The Igbo culture does not allow the concentration of authority or decision-making on the hands of one person. In the parliamentarian system ran by Nigeria in the 60s, the Senate President or Pro-tempore was the Vice president.

My point remains that democracy is system of government based on the tenant of laws not the tweaks individual countries could bring to bear.

For all those talking about legality of Okorocha's action, we all know it is not legal but definitely a step in the right direction. There is very little chance that the law will catch up with Ikiri (Ohakim) for all the looting after leaving office on the 29th. If Okorocha allows him to empty state account before he is sworn in, then he has already put himself in a more difficult situation.

We need more proactive Governors like Okorocha in our democracy who can think on their feet and respond to envolving situations, not reactive Governors that wait for the damage to be done, then they try to remedy it when it is already too late.

Ride on Owelle, the whole Imo is with you !

alexleo:

@mai suya,
pls allow okorocha. What u r saying is what it should be but when u r in a country where looters are governors then u must go the extra mile to catch them. Which of the governors in the past has been imprisoned for looting? The corruption charges against them seems to have been forgotten. Pls keep your due process in waiting until we begin to have credible men in power.

You took the words straight from my mind.
The bankers who are more happier to obey an unseen instruction from A governor-elect rather than do the biddings of a constitutionally-backed Substantive Governor know better. Remember that those bank officials stay in Imo state and they know the looting of the treasury taking place there.
They know better.

enyojo:

You took the words straight from my mind.
The bankers who are more happier to obey an unseen instruction from A governor-elect rather than do the biddings of a constitutionally-backed Substantive Governor know better. Remember that those bank officials stay in Imo state and they know the looting of the treasury taking place there.
They know better.

So what are you saying ? It is constutitional to allow Ohakim empty the state treasury ? while we wait for inept Nigerian Judiciary and Law enforcement to catch and prosecute him (if that will ever happen ). Dude I suppose you don't live in Nigeria, so you dont know whats on the ground. Nigeria doesn't practise the democracy you were taught about during your school days, at the moment Nigeria is practising LOOTOCRACY supported by a bogus constitution which protects public office holders from prosecution.

Hope one day we will start practising democracy like we studied during school days and like it is done in US and other advanced democracies. Until then we need proactive Governors like Rochas, and if the bankers do not carry out his directive, those accounts will be moved to another financial institution come May 29th !

Chikena !

and the dictates of democratic laws is being focused to benefit the masses. So, in this matter matter u can bring the law of neccessity which can be gotten from delegated legislation and the delegated power should be gotten from the choice of the masses in a true democratic setting not from some egocentric people who pose as legislators.
Another thing is that u can get the real unmanipulated opinion of people through dint other than referendum(i.e news stands, market places, motor parks, schools etc), cos we do things in our own style. And the opinions emanating from this place are in favor of the policy. Democracy started from igboland, so USA should be the ones that'll take a leaf from us.

Dede1:


Bros, I am mindful that democracy is the government of people based on the laws. The last time I checked though, democracy is not the government of Okorocha. I can not remember when referendum was passed in Imo State allowing a person who is not yet a governor to issue gubernatorial directives. So your use of the language “people find okorocha's policy okay” is not only ridiculous but downright disingenuous.  

If we are not borrowing USA style of democracy, what hell are we doing with executive governor? The Igbo culture does not allow the concentrated of authority or decision-making on the hands of one person. In the parliamentarian system Nigeria ran in 60s, the Senate President or Pro-tempore was the Vice president.

My point remains that democracy is system of government based on the tenant of laws not the tweaks individual countries could bring to bear.

paulo882:

So what are you saying ? It is constutitional to allow Ohakim empty the state treasury ? while we wait for inept Nigerian Judiciary and Law enforcement to catch and prosecute him (if that will ever happen ). Dude I suppose you don't live in Nigeria, so you dont know whats on the ground. Nigeria doesn't practise the democracy you were taught about during your school days, at the moment Nigeria is practising LOOTOCRACY supported by a bogus constitution which protects public office holders from prosecution.

Hope one day we will start practising democracy like we studied during school days and like it is done in US and other advanced democracies. Until then we need proactive Governors like Rochas, and if the bankers do not carry out his directive, those accounts will be moved to another financial institution come May 29th !

Chikena !

We are on the same page on this.
I said for those bankers to obey the Gov-Elect, it means that they know about how Ikedi and his cohort were depleting the treasury before the order came.
I whole-heartedly support the pro-active move by Rochas. Afterall why hasn't the April salaries of workers paid till middle of May??

Has Rochas been sworn in yet?
Where did he derive the powers to freeze the accounts??