The just dismissed Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has cried out over some monuments erected by his administration in the state, which were claimed to be bulldozed by his successor, Emeka Ihedioha.

The erstwhile governor has also debunked his rumored apprehension by the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which he accused Ihedioha and his new administration of being behind the false apprehension claim.

Ihedioha had begun the demolition of some of the monuments erected by Okorocha’s administration in the state, including the ‘Akachi’ (the symbolic hand of God) barely a day he was sworn in into office.

Earlier on Thursday, news had been going around claiming that Okorocha, his wife, Nkechi and the governor’s brother, Okey, have been apprehended by the Anti-Graft agency.

Responding in a statement through his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, the erstwhile governor said:

“We have read on-line including some print media on-line platforms that the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has arrested the former Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the wife, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha, and one of the brothers, Okey Okorocha, today, being Thursday, May 30, 2019.

“We won’t delay to State that the story of their arrest is not true. It is totally false. It has no iota or atom of truth. Simply put, former Governor Rochas Okorocha, the wife Nneoma and brother Okey, have not been arrested by the crime commission. This is the truth of the matter.

“The fact is that the new PDP government in the state has decided not to toe the path of honor but has decided to continue the old way of the party, by trading on lies or falsehood. They call it propaganda.

“The new government is behind the false story. They even called some media editors to make the story headline.

“We only want to ask them to leave responsible institutions or establishments like EFCC out of their dirty tracks especially in dishing out their lies.

“The PDP in the state had written and sponsored a lot of petitions to agencies and commissions against the former governor. They had told their supporters that the former governor would be whisked away by the EFCC hours after the inauguration on May 29, 2019 and that is the reason behind this falsehood.

“We contend that EFCC is a National Institution and established by the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If they invite the former governor or the wife or any member of his family for interrogation in the course of their investigation, arising from the PDP’s Petitions they would honor such invitations. And if the commission decides to also come for any reason, they are also on the right path since it is on a national assignment.

“So, the PDP or any other group or persons should not give the EFCC the image of an enemy to the people. They should not be dragging EFCC into their dirty politics. The commission is not at war with anybody and they PDP should not create that impression about the commission.”

On the bulldozing of the monuments, the statement said, “We want to also use this opportunity to inform the general public that 24hrs after inauguration, the new PDP government in the State carried out its first assignment on Thursday, May 30, 2019 (today) by demolishing Akachi.

“This is suspicious. They have also changed the Imo Trade and Investment Centre to ‘Ahiajoku’. The former governor had taken certain steps to bring Imo people more closely to God. We have also heard that they want to close the Government House Chapel. In all these we only want to say ‘Time will Tell’”.