The
Catholic Priest and Spiritual Director, Adoration Ministry Enugu
Nigeria (AMEN), Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has descended heavily on the Imo
State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, for allegedly issuing N50 million
‘dud’ cheque to Owerri Catholic Archdiocese “even after voting
massively for him in the 2011 governorship election.”
According to a new report on ThisDay,
Mbaka recalled that the Catholic Community controls about 60 per cent
of the voting population in the state which reasonably favoured Okorocha
who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA) to clinch the governorship seat
following
the widely propagated allegation that the immediate past governor,
Ikedi Ohakim, who was also seeking a re-election assaulted one of their
priests in the build up to the 2011 elections.
Mbaka,
who made this shocking revelation at his Christ the King adoration
ground, Enugu, which also had Ohakim and his supporters in attendance,
described the rescue mission of the
governor as a
disappointment to God and humanity, having betrayed the confidence and
trust reposed in him by the Imo State electorate.
While
regretting what he described as an orchestrated blackmail and hi-tech
propaganda that scuttled the re- election bid of Ohakim, the cleric
attributed the development to selfishness and insensitivity on the part
of his former aides whom he also accused of jeopardising his
investigation ahead of the elections by not granting him access to
interact and possibly establish the veracity of the damaging allegation
that pitched him against the entire Catholic community.
"It
is regrettable that at last, the truth has manifested though not at the
right time. Ohakim didn't beat any priest. It was an orchestrated
falsehood and blackmail which unfortunately were aimed at scuttling his
re-election bid.
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Chief Dr. Ikedi Ohakim arriving Enugu with his team of BringBackIkediOhakim to see Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka
When
we wanted to reach the governor so as to get his own version, those who
worked with him made it impossible. We waited patiently for him but he
never showed up. It was then we composed our music ‘Onye ahu kuru father
Ihe, ogaghi achi anyi ozo’ meaning the person who beat our priest will
not rule us again’, which made Catholics in the state to deny him their
votes.
However,
it is good to tell the truth even if it is coming late. Let the truth
be told today though not necessarily to prepare him for another
governorship project but for the whole world to know that he never did
anything like that. Even if Ohakim dies tomorrow, the world will now
know that he didn't beat any priest.
I
am saying this because after listening to Ohakim's version and that of
the priest involved in the controversy and discovered that the
allegation was false, it then behooved on me as a servant of God to make
my findings public and declare the former governor innocent," Mbaka
exploded.
Speaking
further on the Okorocha administration, the clergyman regretted that
after benefitting from the falsehood and blackmail that ousted the
former governor from office, the rescue mission governor has, to the
chagrin of everybody, decided to reward the Catholic Archdiocese of
Owerri and the people with N50 million dud cheque and bad governance.
"After
the blackmail and falsehood that Ohakim assaulted a Catholic priest,
the man who benefitted from the whole thing is now dealing with the
people as well as destroying the state. Even our Archbishop in Owerri is
now crying.
Could
you imagine that our cathedral in Owerri is almost collapsing and what
this man (Rochas) could do was to give the church a N50 million bounced
cheque? As I am speaking now, Rochas is dealing with the people. In
fact, that man is not a blessing to Ndi Imo and I wonder the kingdom
where he came from.
I
see Imo today, I cry. To all politicians, please, ozo emekwala oh! How
can somebody give an anointed Archbishop a fifty million naira fake
cheque for completion of Church's building? Rochas took advantage of
confusion in the land to ride to power. Ndi Imo, ozo emekwala oh!
Nna
anyi Ohakim, power will come to you free of charge. I'm seeing God
coming to use you to bless Imo. You have a bright future, and I'm seeing
it. Don't forget our people. Everything that happened in the past all
happened for good."
