Though Governor Rochas Okorocha had promised to provide several job opportunities in his second tenure, through massive establishment of industries in his Industry! Industry!! Industry!!! Jobs! Jobs!! Jobs!!! Employment! Employment!! Employment!!! Mantra for which he won a landslide victory and re-election, present economic realities and melt down in the Imo economy, indicate that the future is predominantly bleak and the mantra, unrealizable.
This stems from the fact that the resources currently accruing to Imo State from the Federation Account have drastically and considerably dwindled. What is available for payment of salaries and operations of government for now, is too unmanageable low and insufficient that unless the Governor introduces the compulsory sanitation, property levies and school fees, the economy of Imo State will not only collapse, the structures of government are set to crumble with things falling apart so much that the centre cannot hold. The truth is that Imo State pays as much as N500 million to service local, foreign and contractual obligations or debts monthly. What is left of the allocation after these deductions is the culmination paucity of funds in Imo State and calls for an emergency panic situation if the state must come out from the woods.
According to the details of the monthly Federal Allocation for the month of May paid and released in June 2015 by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Imo State is highly indebted and presently services such debts with as much as N500 million, monthly. For instance Imo State external debt status which was completely wiped out and refunds made to Imo State during Obasanjo Paris Club debt relief, stood at N39 million monthly. Another deduction on Imo’s monthly allocations is the tune of N61 million while its monthly contractual obligation (ISPO), stood at N400 million as at May 2015. This is contrary to Abia, which is a similar oil producing state as Imo, has a foreign debt servicing portfolio of N21 million and other deductions stood at N63 million only monthly. Remarkably Abia State is not servicing any ISPO debts unlike Imo State, N400 million monthly.
After the first line charges and deductions of about N500 million monthly from Imo State allocation, what is left is barely N2.763 Billion while Abia’s allocation has consequently gone up to N2.9 Billion monthly.
The same debt servicing deduction, also applies to the LGA monthly allocations for Imo State, which have reduced to barely N2.474 billion for May 2015 as against N3.5 billion previously. No explanations were obtained at press time for this increasing cost of servicing debts which has eaten deep into the Imo State finances.
However going by the huge allocations that accrued to Imo State between 2011 and 2014, which records were in the domain of the press, there is no explanation for the inability of Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha’s inability to either complete the ongoing general hospital projects, or revamp moribund industries or set up new ones, especially when it is realized that following UBEC takeover of the funding of all primary school infrastructures, the Imo State government under Okorocha should as he claimed be very rich and boyant enough to meet with its financial obligations to the workers and other corporate institutions, parastatals and agencies, comfortably and conveniently.
According to the summary of distribution from excess crude saving Imo State is number 12th position with a total of N72 billion. Abia is number 27th position with a paltry N56 billion within the period under review while both Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi States are trailing far behind Imo. This was as contained in a recent publication personally authorized by the former Minister of Finance, Okonjo Iwuala.
When added to the N26 billion development bond left by Ohakim, the more than N175 billion LGA government funds, the cost of leasing Adapalm to Roche, leasing Imo Concorde to ABG group and the gross internally, generated revenue and multiple taxation in Imo State, it is dishonest, insincere and criminal on the part of the government of Imo State if salaries of workers cannot be promptly paid. The present flimsy and untenable excuses over the inability to pay Imo workers according to observers is wickedness and dubious intensions, some say is deceitful and tantamount to misleading the public.
Courtesy: Community Watchdog Newspaper
