The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State has alleged that Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State is already planning to flee the country with loots and borrowed funds. The party also expressed strong concerns over the increasing debt stock of Imo State in the Uzodinma administration.
The PDP in a statement by the State Publicity Secretary, Collins Opurozor,
Expressed great pain over the spike in Imo’s debt profile, and stated in clear terms that the administration of Senator Hope Uzodinma has mortgaged the future of unborn generations with unpayable debt stock, while also elevating treasury looting to the status of state policy.
The party decried that with a debt profile of N220 billion, Imo has the highest Debt-to-GDP ratio in Nigeria.
The PDP declared: “What is mind-boggling is that about 60 percent of this humongous sum was borrowed by the inept, corrupt and non-performing regime of Senator Uzodinma in the last three years.
“Our Party, therefore, alerts NdiImo, and indeed Nigerians, to a grand plot by Senator Hope Uzodinma to borrow as much as possible and plunge Imo into debt slavery, so as to flee Nigeria with enough loots upon his imminent defeat at the governorship polls in November this year.
“It is on record that the widely-rejected administration of Senator Uzodinma has already gotten the malleable House of Assembly to pass a bogus budget which contains nothing but a very sinister plan to borrow, just in 2023, the sum of N354 billion.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the entire receipts from FAAC to Imo State for the year 2023 would be in the region of N70 billion. The 13% Derivation Fund would total about N9.6 billion. The State’s IGR would be N13 billion. And other interventions and grants, including UBEC, would be N28 billion. That brings the total income of the State for the year to about N120.6 billion. Yet, Senator Uzodinma has planned to fritter away the sum N475 billion within the year. The deficit, which is N354 billion, would be raised through borrowings.”
The PDP maintained that still unsatisfied with that amount, Senator Uzodinma has again sent a supplementary budget of N118 billion to the parliament.
“This will also be financed through loans and squandered as usual. This shows Senator Uzodinma has already perfected plans to leave behind a cumulative debt burden of over N700 billion. It will take more than ten generations to clear this mess which the unelected regime has created just in three years.”
The PDP lamented that it is curious that in all of the landmark borrowings by Senator Uzodinma, no effort has been made to redraw the industrial landscape of the State by re-jigging investments in the hugely vital agro-industrial sector where Imo has major comparative advantage. Adapalm has remained moribund, Imo Rubber Estates and Avutu Poultry Farm have remained comatose.
The party noted, equally, Nsu Tiles Company, Umuna Bricks Factory, Egbema Power Plant and Inyishi Aluminium Extrusion Plant are some key investments with the capacity to rev-up the local economy and employ a vast majority of the teeming unemployed Imo youths. Yet, they have been left to rot away, even when Imo under this anti-people regime of Senator Uzodinma has been officially designated by the NBS as the unemployment capital of Nigeria.
“Our Party observes that, since some of these loans are accessed externally, the Federal Government should, therefore, invoke its powers in line with the provisions of Section 47 (3) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to stop Senator Uzodinma from destroying Imo State with unsustainable debt portfolio.
“Imo PDP further appeals to the foreign missions in Nigeria to intervene in this matter and impose visa ban on Senator Uzodinma, members of his family and top officials of his regime, so that they could remain in Nigeria and answer to their misdeeds as the infamous regime winds down,” the statement read.