The former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Thursday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to order.
The commission had earlier in the week filed a 17-count charge of fraud against the Imo West Senator at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Okorocha, who addressed State House correspondents after a meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said he also informed Buhari on his decision to vie for the presidency under the All Progressives Congress (APC) platform next year.
He said: “I met with Mr. President and intimated him on what is going on between me and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the harassment and intimidation that I’m getting from the commission literally on a daily basis. I also informed him that I have court judgment and two court orders for different judgments at different forums, which stop the EFCC from harassing and intimidating me. EFCC has refused to obey the law.
And so I have to inform Mr President that EFCC should be made to obey the law that established it. And without the law, there wouldn’t be an EFCC. And the desperation with which they go about any affair that concerns me should stop.
“I told Mr. President that some time ago, the EFCC claimed that they recovered the sum of N5.9 billion from my account, which the court found out to be untrue.
“In order other words, they were biased and they prejudged me. On that basis, the court ruled and ordered that they should not further interrogate and harass me. This has also not been obeyed.”
On his presidential ambition, the ex-governor said President Buhari counselled him on the need to sustain the party’s legacy.
Okorocha added: “Mr. President is a leader of the party, the APC because he’s the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which office that I intend to handle after 2023. And again, I used the opportunity to discuss issues relating to our party, especially how the party was formed.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, then former head of state-led the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) into the merge of what became today APC, followed by Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu who led the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN), and myself, Rochas Okorocha who led the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and other leaders of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). This is the four legs upon which the party today called APC is standing.
“I used the opportunity to remind Mr President, of how it all started, and for us to keep the history of this party alive.
“I also made him understand that in the coming convention, these four pillars should be carried along in all our decisions. For without these pillars, there wouldn’t have been anything called the APC today and the victory that followed after.”
