– Mandates them to return property
Staff:We shall only account to Imo government
While the apex youth Body of Orlu zone people, Orluzurumee Youth Assembly (OYA) has continued their relentless effort to return Eastern Palm University Ogboko to the original owners supposedly, Imo people, the former governor, now senator representing Imo West at the National Assembly, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has through the recently appointed Vice chancellor of the University, Prof Tola Badejo ordered the disenged staff of the contentious University to return all property belonging to the school.
According to our source, the Vice chancellor Badejo after a meeting with the ex-governor in Abuja last week, came back to Imo and wrote a letter, mandating all the former staff of the University to handover every University property to him or be arrested by law enforcement agencies.
Some of the staff who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity acknowledged that a letter was sent to them.”I received mine on the 17 of September. I don’t know what they want me to return. They are the people owing me”, one of them stated.
Majority of the disengaged staff who also pleaded anonymity said that they have nothing to hand over.They will only do that to Imo government which owns the school, not Okorocha. They revealed that upon the emergence of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha in March 10, 2019 and the order to return the school to Imo State, Okorocha through the Registrar, one Onuoha, asked us to proceed on leave while others were outrightly disengaged.
The disengaged staff accused Okorocha and Onuoha of Insincerity. According to them, Onuoha who is the ex-governor’s wife , Nkechi Okorocha’s uncle and retired Registrar of Abia State University should be held responsible for whatever is missing in the school.”He had upon the emergence of Ihedioha instructed some of us to dismantle fittings and appliances in the school which some of us did. Today, he claims that Okorocha has reached an understanding with the current governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma to cede the school entirely to him with some percentage agreed upon”.
They also said that in view of the matter before the court, which is presently questioning true ownership of the University, it will be wrong to even meet anyone in the school or reply to such letters.
It would be recalled that ex-governor Rochas Okorocha had acquired the vast portion of land now housing Eastern Palm University, while his son-Inlaw, Uche Nwosu was the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Surveys and Urban Planning, and built the school with state fund. Thereafter, Okorocha claimed that unknown foreign investors from Europe were private investors to the University and cajoled the Imo State House of Assembly under to cede 90% to the unknown partners while ceding a paltry or meager 10% to Imo State.
This development did not go down well with the Orluzurumee Youth Assembly (OYA) which has now gone to court challenging the alleged conversion of the Imo State owned second University to a private property. They have also accused Senator Uzodinma of allegedly working with Rochas Okorocha to deprive Imo people of over 50billion naira investment, sunk into the establishment of the university.
As gathered, the NUC licence dated 13,April, 2016 with reference number, NUC/ES/529/VOL.1/3,addrsssed to Rochas Okorocha as governor of Imo State registered Eastern Palm University as the 42 State University and 143 University in Nigeria University system. It also acknowledged the school as the “Second Imo State-owned University”.
It is therefore the strong contention of Orlu concerned youths under the aegis of Orlu Youth Assembly (OYA) that Okorocha must return the university to its authentic owners. Hopefully the Imo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice under the shared prosperity government of Senator Hope Uzodinma in a recent statement, assured tacitly that Okorocha or anybody else for that matter will not be allowed to steal and run aware with Eastern Palm University, Ogboko. He sued for calm.
