Clear yourself, APC tells Okowa Over Alleged $10m diversion

The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, to come out and clear the air on the allegation making the rounds that “one of the South-South governors” diverted $10m received as bailout from the Federal Government.

According to the Delta APC, in a statement on Monday by its acting Publicity Secretary, Leonard Obibi, the allegation had gone viral having been reported by some newspapers.

The story, according to the APC, stated that $10m was allegedly hijacked from the South-South in question by the governor’s American-based mistress.

Obibi said the APC had reasons to believe that the unnamed governor in the story was Okowa.

The APC spokesman said, “Online and social media channels have pointedly revealed that Governor Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa of Delta State is the culprit in this hideous matter; and that it is Governor Okowa that commissioned and connived with his mistress, who is an actress that hails from the Ika-speaking area of Delta State and based in Texas, U.S.A., to launder the $10m into slush accounts in order to avoid detection by security agencies.”

According to him, this was the reason President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the bailout and the London and Paris Club loans refunds to all states should be monitored.

The statement read in part, “We hope that it is not true that the Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, is the one involved. But, if it is established that he is implicated, then it is most cruel, manipulative and disgraceful for Governor Okowa to debase himself so callously and to have acted in a manner that is so ‘criminal’ and morally unjust.

Okowa has dismissed the report, saying the APC was just being mischievous.

Okowa, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, told one of our correspondents that,  “Anybody demanding explanation on that issue to say the least is the most uncharitable because I know they themselves know that kind of a thing cannot happen in this era. Who will lose that kind of money? Does the Okowa you know look like a womaniser? If that is what they thought, that is not the stuff Okowa is made of.

“Okowa’s business is to govern the whole of Delta and to avoid distraction. There is no issue in any case and we won’t bother ourselves with this cheap blackmail. We have told them (the APC)what the bailout was used for. Are they telling us that they have been in London? The funds were used for local governments and the state.

 “If they are serious, let them come and look at the books. We have nothing to hide. Their (APC) intention is to distract us but we are not going to fall for it.”