A socio-cultural organization in Imo State, Olu Owerri has asked the state governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma to account for the federal government allocations to the twenty seven (27) local government areas of the state, insisting that over four (4) billion naira belonging to the local government areas have been diverted by the state government, in the last one year while abandoning all rural projects and payment of local government workers and pensioners.
In a release, signed by the President General, Chief Martin Opara Olu Owerri said, after reviewing the one year in office of the present administration, Imo people can only blame the Supreme Court for what has befallen the state.
Chief Martin Opara further disclosed that mismanagement of the state administrative mechanism and lack of clear vision, commitment to best practices and rule of law have led to the loss of over five billion naira that could have come into the state through Word Bank, AfriExim Bank and other national/ multinational agencies and organizations, aside the N75b grant to the state by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) that was recently recalled from Zenith Bank because the state government failed to live upto expectation.
According to the release, “it has been one year of weeping, abandonment of the local government areas, non payment of salaries and pensions, sacking of workers and running around in the municipal (only one local government) to impress the urban dwellers and visitors, while nothing is happening in other parts of the state”.
Olu Owerri challenged the State Government to publish the one year allocation of funds to Imo State and her twenty seven local government areas as well as projects the allocations were used for, in the last one year.
