Rochas Okorocha says he had a private jet before becoming a governor

Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha says contrary to stories being peddled by the opposition in his state, he'd bought his private jet before becoming a governor, an indication that he did not use the state's money to buy one. The governor said this after some politicians in the state asked him to sell his private jet and use the proceed to address unpaid salaries of civil servants in the state. Okorocha's reaction is contained in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, today August 27th. Read it after the cut...

"As a government, we want to deny with high sense of honesty that since May 29, 2011 when Owelle Rochas Okorocha became governor, he has never bought any private Jet either directly or by proxy. Having made this denial let those behind the allegation make their facts public to fault our denial. “The period Governor Rochas Okorocha bought Jets was years before he was elected, during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime when some of the presidential jets were auctioned. The governor bought jets then under the aegis of Lamonde Aviation, alongside few other Nigerians. Since he became governor, he has never bought any private Jet. Again, the Debit Management Agency penultimate week published the states and their respective debt profiles. And in the case of Imo State, they published N37 billion which was far from the hundreds of billions the opponents of the government have been claiming to be the debt status of the state. And the N37 billion debt include the ones owed by the previous administrations. The good story is that we have been vindicated on that.”the statement read