I Did Not Offer Ahmed Gulak $2m Bribe — Rochas Okorocha

An ex-governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has debunked an allegation by Ahmed Gulak that he gave him a $2m bribe when he went to the state last year to organize the controversial APC governorship primary.

Rochas, in a recent statement by his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, said the allegations from Gulak a year after the controversial primary happened proves that the ex-presidential aide is shameless.

He added that Alhaji Gulak was actually sent to Owerri to destroy APC.

It read, “This same Ahmed Gulak had claimed at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, that he absconded from his Room 701 at Rockview Hotel, Owerri by 4 am that day because, agents of the former governor had wanted to kidnap him.

“And now Gulak waited till more than a year after the ugly incident to come up with his fictitious claim of a $2m bribe, after he had claimed that he fled Owerri over a kidnap attempt.

“The truth is that Alhaji Gulak was sent to Owerri to ensure the destruction of the APC in Imo and, by extension, in the South-East.”

Do you believe him?

Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha (born 22 September 1962) is a Nigerian politician of Igbo extraction from Imo State. Okorocha is a former governor and the senator representing Imo West Senatorial district at the 9th Nigerian Senate, who won the 6 May 2011 gubernatorial election in Imo State and was re-elected for his second term on 11 April 2015. The former governor represents the Imo West Senatorial District at the red chamber.

He is the founder of Rochas Foundation, a charity comprising a number of special schools that are spread all over Nigeria that gives scholarship to the less privileged children in Nigeria. On his first attempt, he ran on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) platform and ran on the platform All Progressives Congress for his second term.

Rochas, was born on 22 September 1962 in Ogboko, Ideato South, Imo State. He attended Juladaco High School, Jos (1976-1981). He studied at the University of Jos (1990-1991), obtaining a diploma in Public Administration. He returned to the University of Jos (1993-1994) to obtain an advanced diploma in Public Administration. Career positions include President, Nigeria Red Cross Society, President/Founder, Rochas Foundation Inc, President, Rochas Group of Companies Limited, Pro Chancellor, African Business School and Former Chairman, Board of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency.

Okorocha was a Commissioner on the Federal Character Commission and a Member of the National Constitutional Conference. When democracy was restored in 1999, Rochas Okorocha competed in the primaries to be People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor of Imo State, but lost to Achike Udenwa. He moved to the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), and was an unsuccessful candidate for President on the ANPP platform in 2003. He returned to the PDP, and President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Special Adviser on Inter-Party affairs.