A group known as the Greater Imo Initiative (GII) a foremost defender of truth, and good governance, has responded to what they discribed as grave nuisance and dangerous theatrics of Mazi Chima Matthew Amadi.
In a Press Conference at the NUJ Press Center Owerri recently, the coordinator (GII) Hon. Ethelbert Nnanna hinted that Amadi has paraded himself like a self-anointed conqueror, going about spreading deliberate lies, and blackmailing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and as well insulting Imo leaders of repute.
“What Imo people now face is not mere opposition politics, but a carefully orchestrated nuisance designed to destabilize our state”.
“Amadi has brazenly moved across Imo State, including sensitive environments where politics is not even permitted, such as university campuses and places of worship, distributing cash recklessly in tens of millions.
“In at least three videos currently online, he is seen spraying Naira notes, and even dancing on them. This is an open violation of our financial laws and our national currency regulations.
They stressed that the Greater Imo Initiative is never against philanthropy or genuine almsgiving. But against someone who has never lived in Imo, who cannot even mention the names of three streets in Owerri nor drive himself from Owerri to his village to suddenly arrives with questionable riches to splash illicit cash and stoke crimes in the name of running for governorship.
“This is not just indiscretion, it is a crime. The Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, in Section 2(1), prohibits individuals from making or accepting cash payments above ₦5,000,000. Furthermore, Section 18 of the same Act prescribes a minimum of 4 years imprisonment for offenders. By this alone, Amadi has placed himself in open defiance of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Added to this is his abuse of the Naira itself, which under the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, Section 21(3), criminalizes the spraying, dancing upon, and mutilation of our national currency, prescribing imprisonment or fines for offenders.
“These are not minor matters, they are clear breaches of law that demand urgent action.
“We therefore call on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to apprehend and prosecute this agent of lawlessness without any further delay”.
They pointed out that Amadi is not in any way acting alone, as he often references certain external, desperate political actors in Abuja, whose only agenda is to impose themselves on Imo politics at all costs and capture the treasury of our state.
“Amadi’s relentless and senseless attacks on Governor Hope Uzodimma are not driven by any ideology or patriotism but by one selfish objective, to wrest control of the APC structure in Imo State ahead of 2027 elections. This is the true face of his ambition: personal gain disguised as activism.
“Most nauseating of missteps is his rep
eated boast that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu personally sent him to destabilize Imo State. This is not just absurd; it is an outrageous insult that cannot be condoned.
“The President is a principled statesman, the leader of the APC, and the architect of its national unity. For Amadi to drag his name through the mud in this manner is political gutter work of the lowest order.
“President Tinubu has never, will never, and can never fund the sabotage of his own party in any state.
“The claim by Amadi is nothing but the hallucination of a desperate man with an inflated ego in search of uninformed victims of his political Bet9ja.
“We, therefore, demand that the security agencies immediately clamp down on this unhinged assault on the Commander-in-Chief. This is beyond politics; it is character assassination against the President and a direct affront to the unity of the Nigerian state.
“Even more treasonous is his claim that he has been printing INEC sensitive materials as a contractor, and that he has already printed ballot papers and result sheets for the 2027 Imo governorship election. All of these, he often claims, are done because he is an agent or front for the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
“By claiming to be an Agent of INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and boasting of having facilitated electoral malpractices in other states, Amadi is deliberately sabotaging public confidence in INEC.
“His goal is obvious: to play the false messiah to the gullible while dragging the nation’s electoral umpire into disrepute. Such claims are combustible, not just treasonous. They are the political equivalent of shouting fire in a crowded theatre”.
In view of this, the group therefore issued a direct public appeal to the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, and all relevant agencies to treat these statements as a red-alert.
They also called for immediate raids and searches on all known residences of Chima Amadi, at home and in Abuja to find INEC materials he claims to possess, and if he is lying, should be prosecuted for willful misinformation, if he is telling the truth, should be prosecuted for possessing illegal election materials.
“Even more worrisome is the fact that Chima Amadi, who is not a public office holder and who has not held even a councillorship position all his life, now parades himself with a large army of security agents as though he were already a state governor.
“This is a dangerous charade designed to give the false impression that he is being backed from above. “We ask in seriousness, has Nigeria become such a country where impostors and political jesters can infiltrate the security forces and deploy our gallant officers on him for political impersonation, fraudulent misrepresentation, and hatchet jobs.
“We must also strongly advise the people of Imo State, particularly vulnerable market men and women whom Chima Amadi frequently invades with cash handouts, to exercise extreme caution. Such gifts often bring misfortune rather than blessings. His reckless money distribution should not be mistaken for generosity.
“We cannot also ignore the role of his close ally, one Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, who has become a twin face of this reckless politics and whose irresponsibility even as a lawmaker is legendary. “Under his sponsorship, thugs attacked journalists at the old NUJ Secretariat in Owerri, spilling blood, smashing cameras, and forcing female journalists to flee for their lives.
“That old building, which the NUJ voluntarily handed over to the Imo State Government after it was given a befitting new complex, has now been illegally converted into a den of hemp smokers, criminals, and rapists – all shielded by a serving federal legislator. This is shameful and intolerable.
The group therefore called on the Government of Imo State to immediately take over the old NUJ Secretariat to restore order, protect innocent residents, and preserve the dignity of journalism in our state. They as well asked the Security agencies in Imo to also open investigations into Ugochinyere’s violent gangs.
“We shall continue to defend truth, dismantle lies, and protect the reputation of Imo State from the wrecking crew of ambition-driven charlatans. “We will not allow anti-Imo propagandists to stain the unity of our people or the hard-earned achievements under Governor Hope Uzodimma.
They however called on the people of Imo State to reject the prophets of doom, the apostles of fake data, and the merchants of chaos.
