The Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha has denied erecting or authorising the erection of the controversial billboard in the state showing his ‘iconic’ handshake with President Barak Obama during his visit to the US last week.
Okorocha has been under attack over the billboard since the picture hit the internet, but his Chief Press Secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, in a statement, said the billboard was erected by some politicians in the state without knowing the implications, according to investigations.
“The Imo Governor or the state government he superintends did not place the photographs on the referenced screen or billboards, and was not aware or informed of such development, and could not have authorized anybody or any group to do that since it was totally unnecessary,” Onwuemeodo stressed.
Onwuemeodo disclosed that the billboard may have been put up “to impress the governor,” but disclosed that the “government has however told them to put a stop to that.”
“The government also wants to use the opportunity offered by this development to demand that anybody who wants to do any advert for the governor in any media or publicity outfit should get clearance from designated officials of the government,” the statement warned.
“We take the liberty to call on the general public who had seen or who will see the photographs on the networks in question to discard them. They are not from the Imo State Government,” Onwuemeodo said in the statement.
