The Senate on Tuesday declared to Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State that the Upper Chamber holds him no apology over the condemnation of his government’s proposed policy on the issuance of identification card to Northerners residing in the state.
Okorocha, through his media aide, had requested for apology over allegation levelled against him that he introduced the registration of Northerners in the state as a way of preventing Boko Haram from entering the state.
Okorocha said what the senators involved themselves was nothing but blackmail of the state government.
But the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, called the attention of the senators to a newspaper publication where an aide of the governor confirmed that the project had commenced.
Ningi said the governor’s aide granted an interview to a tabloid based in the Northern part of the country where he stated that the screening of all Northerners residing in Imo State had started.
He said the governor’s aide explained that each of the Northerners there would be duly registered to know their trade, residence and location and that they would be confirmed by the head of their trade union before they would be issued a card.
According to Ningi, Okorocha’s aide further claimed that all the Northerners would be fully documented and that none of them should stop entering the state with their trucks by night.
Ningi further stated that the Imo State Government had been employing media strategy to create an impression that the residence card project was an agenda initiated by the Northern elders in the state.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, said the Senate would not subject the point of order raised by Ningi because the issue was adequately debated last week and that the Senate verdict on the issue was final.
On the issue of apology demanded by Okorocha, Ekweremadu said the governor had the opportunity to brief senators from his state on the matter when it was first raised on Tuesday last week and eventually debated upon on Thursday.
He also ruled out insinuations that the Senate was prosecuting Okorocha by its resolution of last week as part of Peoples Democratic Party agenda, stressing that senators from opposition political parties participated actively in the debate and voted on the motion.
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