Uzodinma can’t take Eastern Palm University from me at APC revalidation center, says Okorocha

Chidiebube Okeoma, Owerri

A former governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday said that the establishment of Universities is not “a street business” and at such the governor of the state, Hope Uzodinma, can’t announce the take over of Eastern Palm University, Ogboko, at a revalidation center of the All Progressives Congress.

Okorocha’s spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo, in a statement in Owerri on Thursday said that Uzodinma, was using the state house of Assembly lawmakers to play petty politics.

The statement flayed the state lawmakers for repealing the law establishing Eastern Palm University, Ogboko.

The statement said “The Imo State Government, with Chief Hope Uzodinma as governor, had taken three wrong steps with regard to the Eastern Palm University, in the past 72 hours.

“The government had announced that it has taken over the ownership of the University. The government had also gotten the House of Assembly to purportedly repeal the law establishing the University. The government has also announced that, it has re-named or changed the name of the University to K.O. Mbadiwe University.

“Our reactions are the purported repeal of the law establishing the Eastern Palm University has authenticated our claim that it was a creation of the law. The law establishing the University prescribed the PPP arrangement.

” Since that was the setting, the Assembly therefore, defaulted or had acted in contravention of the law by not getting the Consent or agreement of the two parties involved, on the reported repeal. In other words, the repeal only existed in the imaginations of those behind it.

“Both the Assembly and the Government have never denied that there is a matter pending in a Court of Competent Jurisdiction on the Eastern Palm University. And for both the Assembly and the government to be taking one sided decisions on the fate of the University, without reference to the main Party and to the Court matter, have only made their actions questionable and contemptuous.

“University is not a street one can rename or change its name at a polling unit where he had gone to revalidate his membership of APC. So, the claimed renaming of the University does not add up in reality.

“The purported repeal of the law establishing the University by the Assembly without recourse to the position of one of the parties, has also made the Assembly a willing party in the matter in Court. And until the Court takes decision on the matter before it, there is nothing anybody can do about that.

“Okorocha had established and gotten the licences of five Universities and four Polytechnics while he was governor.

“Let governor Uzodinma also tell his audience, why he is not talking about those Universities and Polytechnics, but only interested in the Eastern Palm University with PPP Status?.”