There are noticeable sponsored publications to discredit the newly appointed Special Adviser (SA) to the Governor on Local Government Matters and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon. Chief Mayor Chukwudi Eze, by some disgruntled elements among politicians.
In reaction to a question from our correspondent, Hon. Mayor Eze said the news making the round that he orchestrated the scandal is the handiwork of mischief makers and those who do not wish him well. They include those afraid that with him as SA to the governor on local government matters and chieftaincy affairs, it is no longer going to be business as usual.
Chief Mayor Eze who was the former Chairman of Orlu Council as well as Chairman of Imo ALGON between 2003-2007 disclosed that he had not been involved in any contract scandal since after his stint in the local government administration, after which he had a stint in the National Assembly and came out with a clean bill of health.
In his bid to set the record straight, Eze had this to say, “I was the Chairman of Orlu LGA and Chairman of ALGON in Imo state during the Romix issue. Following a petition from Senator Arthur Nzeribe on the floor of the Senate inviting EFCC to investigate the Romix contract, all the local government Chairmen in Imo state were either arrested or invited to the EFCC office in Lagos and detained, during this time EFCC maintained a single office which was in Lagos outside Abuja.
I was in the US then. I came home and walked into the EFCC office in Lagos and reported myself. As the chairman of ALGON, I was also interrogated.
In brief, the Romix issue was a laudable one. It was a joint project on roads by the 27 local governments on road construction. When allocations could carry the deductions, we deducted N6m per LGA and kept in a zenith Bank account for the project. The contractor had started in some local governments when trouble started. The money paid to the contractor and the balance of N600m that was in zenith account tallied with the total amount deducted so far for the contract.
The EFCC after questioning the 27 local government Chairmen released all of us. No chairman including myself was charged after the interrogation and investigations.
I later went to the House of Representatives same year in 2007. I have been around since then”,he revealed.
Continuing,Mayor Eze challenged his detractors to carry on with their investigation to tell the world what happened to the balance of the Romix funds of N600m that was left in zenith account after our tenure expired as chairmen in 2007.
