Date Published: 09/30/09
IMO IS BROKE, GROUP ALLEGES By Maximus Uba
Imo State , one of the States South East of Nigeria is in a financial mess and cannot meet its financial obligations to the citizens, workers and contractors alike so says Imo Democratic Congress, a Socio/Political group based in Owerri, the Imo State Capital. A statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the group, Mr. Maximus Uba and made available to newsmen said salaries and wages of Imo workers have become a Herculean task, cheques to contractors and schools are bouncing while the State is in total mess, no thanks to financial recklessness of the Ikedi Ohakim led Administration. Part of the statement read “The attention of Imo People must be drawn to the state of Finances of Imo State which all and sundry know is in a mess. As we write, cheques to schools and contractors are bouncing, infrastructures have broken down irritably, salaries and wages are no longer regular, infact Imo workers have not been paid in the last three months, its even so bad that the state cannot fund the New Face organization campaigns and had to resort to begging one big hotelier who gave them a loan of Five Million to continue their hapless campaign”.
Claiming that the States indebtedness to local banks now totaling over 80 billion is responsible for the financial mess, the Group urged the people not to heed the campaign mounted by the State Governor to pay tax stating that the government has no moral right to ask people to pay tax whereas she is financially irresponsible and has no answers to disappearing local government funds, the excess crude money and the 18.5 billion bond raised by UBA Plc which has already developed wings.
The Group urged religious and traditional Rulers to come out and put a stop to the financial bringade, the moral depravation and all manner of mess wrought on the people of Imo State by Ikedi Ohakim and his brother Emmanuel, else the State will in the next couple of months collapse before our very eyes. The group criticized the likes of Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, I.D Nwoga, Arthur Nzeribe and other leaders who keep quiet in the face of imminent collapse of a State whose founding fathers are daily weeping in their graves.
