By Dorcas Samson Achi
Chief Emeka Aririguzo, the erstwhile Interim Chairman of IMO Transport Company (ITC) has debunked the allegation made against him by the ITC Recovery Team which alleged that a bus belonging to ITC was recovered from him. Aririguzo boasted that nobody can rubbish his outstanding legacy in ITC within the short period he held sway.
He was accused of taking possession of a bus belonging to ITC during his tenure as the Chairman, interim management committee of ITC.
Chief Aririguzo while reacting to the report described the allegation as cheap blackmail that holds no water. He said that before he even became the Interim Chairman of ITC, he got franchise service of the company for one of his buses which was sold to him by Cojo Motors.while he was there as the Chairman, one Mr Kelechi Anthony Metu who was then, the union leader of ITC staff, managing the bus informed him that the bus had developed fault at Obigbo and requested money to fix the bus.
Speaking further, Aririguzo said When the then administration ended the way it did, he lost interest in investing in the franchise business and informed Mr Ibe who was the acting general manager at that time that he was withdrawing his bus from ITC,unknown to him, Mr Kelechi whom he had given money to repair his bus and park for him had abandoned the bus at Obigbo and carried ITC’s bus in place of his. Owing to the pandemic, he had not sighted the bus nor done anything to it since it was parked.
According to Chief Aririguzo “the present ITC Interim ManagementCommittee never impounded any bus from me but rather on their request, I returned the bus parked for me by Kelechi for them without knowing that it was ITC’s bus but with the belief that it was supposedly mine”. He said that up till now, his bus is still at Obigbo, saying that if those who peddle falsehood against him are not mischievous, they should have gone to Obigbo to confirm the particulars of the vehicle instead of raising false alarm of recovering a stolen bus from me just to tarnish my image.
” My Bus is in Obigbo as I speak with you. I have sent the particulars of the vehicle to them for verification. This is unacceptable. It is on record that under my regime, I bought brand new buses for ITC and made notable sacrifices for the company within my short tenure. Nobody can rubbish my efforts in ITC, the records are there ”,he emphasized.
When contacted, Metu arrogantly told our reporter to come to his office for any information.
Speaking with a top management staff of ITC who does want his name in print, he said that the allegation against Aririguzo is unfounded, insisting that most of the buses in ITC fleets now were bought by Aririguzo and wondered how such person who served the State diligently would convert a rickety vehicle to himself,”what for”, he queried.
