The Imo State Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barrister Kingsley Ononuju, has debunked recent news which made waves in the social media insinuating that he was at the police headquarters Owerri, at the invitation of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Imo State alongside the Chairman of Mbaitoli local government over issues bordering on revenue collection at the Egbeada International market, stating that the story is false and fabricated via the figment of the imagination of some mischief makers in the area, who are bent on embarrassing him.
In a statement issued in Owerri on Wednesday July 22, 2020, by the Special Assistant to the Commissioner on Media, Mr Ben Ahanonu, it was disclosed that the Commissioner after attending an official meeting on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, was on his duty post all day and was never called out what more being involved by the police.
The release issued by Mr Ahanonu which is self explanatory reads; “the attention of the Honourable Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barrister Kingsley Ononuju (Ekwedashike) has been drawn to a fabricated lie circulating on the Social Media that he was invited to the State CID, Owerri today alongside the Interim Management Chairman of Mbaitoli LGA, Mr John Eke to make statements regarding who should be collecting revenue at Egbeada International Market, Mbaitoli LGA.
This is to state without equivocation that the story is entirely false and a figment of the writer’s warped imagination.
For clarity, the Honourable Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barrister Kingsley Ononuju (Ekwedashike), attended the State Executive Council meeting on Wednesday July 22, 2020, which lasted throughout the day and was never at any Police Station not to talk of writing any statement with anybody including the State police hierarchy.
The general public is hereby advised to please disregard the malicious post because the intent of the person that made it is to cause disaffection and paint the Honourable Commissioner in bad light.
The status of Egbeada International Market is not questionable because it belongs to the State.
The Honourable Commissioner for Commerce and Industry remains dedicated to achieving his core mandate of boosting Commerce, reviving the Industrial Sector and making every effort to increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the State. He will never be distracted”.
It will be recalled that the Commerce and Industry Commissioner, Barr Kingsley Ononuju, has been in a shouting match with his Mbaitolu kinsman, who was appointed IMC Chairman over the jurisdiction of market revenues from some of the markets in the state including Egbeada International Market.
While the Commissioner has since clarified that the state government must oversee all revenue accruing from only those markets recently upgraded by the state government, the Mbaitolu IMC Chairman is insisting that the constitutional and statutory roles of the LGAs include development, operation, administration and revenue generation from all the markets within their council areas as if daring the government of the day.
