>
Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha on Tuesday faulted those criticising his government for erecting the statues of some African presidents, saying he was ready to be investigated on the matter.
The governor has been under severe criticism for erecting the statues of South African President Jacob Zuma and outgoing Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
The Socio- Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) had written to anti-corruption agencies, in which it called for a probe into the funds used for erecting the statues.
In a statement issued on Tuesday in reaction to SERAP’s letter, Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, said he read the report as published in some national dailies on the erection of the statues.
“We have read in the media the report credited to SERAP that it had submitted petitions to some agencies demanding the probe of Governor Okorocha over the statues of presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
“SERAP also said that the statues might cost N1 billion, adding that the statues might have been funded with public funds. They also talked about the governor’s inability to pay teachers’ salaries and pensioners’ entitlements,” the statement said.
It added that the state government subscribed to SERAP’s call for probe, adding that its only concern was that SERAP contradicted itself by also passing judgments.
“It would have stopped at calling for a probe to show they meant well. But they went ahead to pass judgments and thereby jeopardising what should have been their innocent call for probe,” it further stated.Okorocha, therefore, suggested that SERAP should have waited for the outcome of the probe before making their stand known to the public.