Be business-like as Makinde, Okorocha tells Ihedioha

• Group urges Imo gov to pardon condemned criminal
Former Governor Rochas Okorocha has urged his predecessor, Emeka Ihedioha, to emulate his Oyo counterpart, Seyi Makinde, by concentrating fully on governance in Imo State.

Okorocha, now the senator representing Imo West in the National Assembly, was yesterday reacting to the constitution of a seven-man panel by Governor Emeka to investigate land deals from 2006 to May this year.

Faulting the move, the ex-governor urged his successor to follow the “good example of the Oyo State Governor, Chief Seyi Makinde, in putting his thinking caps thoroughly before taking any action.”

In a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Sam Onwuemeodo, he accused Ihedioha of peopling the panel with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members for ulterior motives.

Okorocha flayed the setting up of about 14 committees “all tilted to find fault in my eight-year administration.”

The senator claimed that Ihedioha was not only pursuing him, but also President Muhammadu Buhari.

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC), has appealed to Governor Ihedioha to grant an unconditional pardon to prisoner Paul Egboluche.

Paul, like his father, Pa Celestine Egboluche, is currently on death row at the Enugu Maximum Prisons, having been convicted 19 years ago.

However, while his father, Pa Celestine was released from detention last month at the age of 100 years following a pardon granted to him by Okorocha, Paul, his only surviving son, has remained in custody.