The Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma has reacted to the report of his arrest by the Special Presidential Investigation Panel For Recovery of Public Property.

While denying having been arrested at all, the lawmaker accused Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State of sponsoring the story, saying that there was no truth in the sponsored story.

Uzodinma stated this in a statement signed by the Director of Media and Special Duties of the Hope Uzodinma Campaign Organization, Declan Emelumba.

The lawmaker said the report was “planted by Okorocha and his cohorts out of their desperation to tarnish the image of the distinguished senator before the Imo electorate who are poised to vote for him in 2019.”

He said that “Okorocha has refused to come to grips with reality that his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, will not be his successor in 2019, and that he is, therefore, out to damage APC and its governorship candidate in Imo State.”

He continued, “If there was any arrest, is it not the press department of the panel that will issue such a statement to the entire media.

“It is very obvious that Okorocha and his people are behind this evil story. They have planned so much against the APC governorship candidate, from the phony dud cheque issue to a non-existent non-assets declaration charge.

“Their latest plot is this Calabar dredging contract. However, they should know that the company handling the Calabar dredging contract is Calabar Channels Management Company in which Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has 60% equity shares.

“So, if there is anybody to be arrested for anything, then it is the Managing Director of NPA and not a minority partner, Niger Global, in which Uzodinma is a shareholder.

“The fact that simultaneously as they planted the Punch online story, their own so called state publicity secretary of APC Imo State, Onwuasonya FCC Jones, issued a press release celebrating the false arrest, shows clearly that they are behind the whole plot.”