By Chinelo Obogo
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has accused his predecessors of wrecking the state and leaving a debt of N292 billion which he said he met when he assumed office in 2020. Speaking in a recent interview at the weekend in Lagos, the governor said that his administration has been able to reduce the state’s debt to less than N100 million, making it solvent enough to engage with international financial institutions like the World Bank. He said that excessive borrowing by past governments had initially hindered his ability to secure funding for projects.
The governor also blamed his predecessors for fuelling insecurity in Imo, especially in his first tenure, alleging that election losers and separatist groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) contributed to escalation of insecurity in the state.
What was the state of affairs in Imo when you emerged governor?
When I became governor of Imo in 2020, there was total breakdown of both public and critical private infrastructure. By 2020, all the major and side roads were impassable. The Government House was not habitable and the secretariat where civil servants needed to work was broken down. The state was a typical example of how things fell apart. There was no clean drinking water because everything was in a total state of disrepair. Emeka Ihedioha was governor for about seven months and he was not able to live in the Government House for one day until he left because the place was not habitable.
From the guest chalet where I stayed when I became governor, I started cleaning up the compound and that was how I was able to get an office. The exco chamber was like a market stall and I had to build and we got a Government House. We then did a comprehensive review of the state of roads in Owerri and we prioritised the roads and the major ones that we thought of was the Owerri-Orlu road, the Okigwe road and the Owerri-Umuahia road. If you go to those roads now, they are a testimony of themselves. Within a short period, we constructed 120 solid roads and we restored the Owerri water scheme and within the first six months, it started running.
Our civil service system was broken down and we were able to reorganise it and today, we have a well sanitised civil service. From 2020 till today, we have never missed the payment of salaries for even one month. When I came in, the minimum wage in Imo was N18,000, I started paying N30,000 and without any prompting, I increased it to N40,000 and we have now started paying N70,000. Even now, I am reviewing the salaries of teachers and that of some critical sectors. Civil servants and pensioners are enjoying free medical care and we have one of the most robust health insurance schemes and my government is paying the insurance premium. We have both tangible and intangible services which we provide. We do the work, while others do the propaganda, but we demolish propaganda with our results.
How has your administration been able to tackle insecurity?
The insecurity that started in Imo State from 2020 in my first four years was more of a politically contrived insecurity. Those who lost out in the election and couldn’t sustain the fraud they committed went angry and wanted to create a situation where there would be anarchy so that there would be a state of emergency but God said no. This was also coupled with the agitation by IPOB and ESN. There was also the breakdown of the correctional centre and armed robbers and kidnappers who have been there for many years now had their way out and went back to the only business they know how to do. This cost the government a lot of money but with the support of the Federal Government and God’s grace, we now have relative peace in the state.
To address insecurity, we must start from the root. What we did was to provide funds for young people to start businesses by partnering with the Central Bank. We shared N250,000 each to some of the beneficiaries but we didn’t see the results we wanted because many of them squandered the money. I then diverted to digital economy and created the skill-up Imo programme with an ambition to empower 300,000 young people and we have so far graduated 45,000 who have learned one digital skill or the other and over 99 percent of this number are gainfully employed or have started their own business.
Tell us about the Oil producing companies?
We have seven oil producing companies in Imo but none of them have an office in the state. They come from Lagos and Port Harcourt, do their work and go back. When I confronted them, they said they didn’t have any good place to stay. So, I made a local law that if you are an oil company operating in Imo, you must open an office in the state and employ the indigenes They asked me if I could set up a five-star hotel in Owerri. So, I embarked on the total rehabilitation of the old Concord hotel in partnership with Hilton and by November this year, there would be Concord-Hilton Hotel in the state.
What about the debt profile of the state?
In 2021, I had a World Bank project in which N500 million was required for counterpart funding and we didn’t have it anywhere and we couldn’t borrow because the DMO would not let us borrow because my predecessors already over borrowed. I met a N292 billion debt in 2020 and as at today, we have reduced the debt to less than N100 million so that the state can become solvent to be able to discuss credit with international organisations. The difference between us and some who came before us is that we came in with an agenda and a vision to achieve. In 2020, our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the state was less than N400 million monthly but as I speak with you, we make close to N4 billion. We have minimised leakages to the barest minimum. I stopped the hiring of consultants to collect government revenue. We have a single treasury account system and everything is automated, both formal and informal revenue.
Imo has the highest gas reserves in Nigeria. When I became the governor in 2020, the Bonny LNG gets almost 45 percent of their gas from here but the dividends don’t come to the state. I am not interested in allowing people come to the state just to get raw materials. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have a petrochemical plant in the state or a fertiliser plant which would create jobs. I am still discussing with the Federal Government and the National Development Corporation. The host communities are angry. They want an economy to be created in the place. If Nigeria is producing two million barrels of crude oil everyday and there are no jobs and South-Korea that is not producing one barrel has 22 refineries, then, something is wrong. So, we should wear our thinking caps.
Are you in support of the emergency rule in Rivers State?
On the Rivers emergency rule, I spoke on it. I anchored my reasoning and logic on the protection of our economic assets. At the time, I heard that the pipeline was bombed when we were crying. I am the chairman of the National Economic Council subcommittee on crude oil theft and all of our efforts are geared towards boosting oil production. So, anything that would reduce the production quota we have should not be encouraged. The president is the Chief Security Officer of the country and he was worried about the growing tension in Rivers. What could have happened if they had allowed those in the House of Assembly to impeach my colleague, Fubara? It would be him today and another person tomorrow. I am a Christian and if you are a governor, it is because God approved it. When I came in, I was one of the most abused and maligned governors and many of our people didn’t give me a chance.
Are you afraid of the coalition that is building up by opposition leaders?
What is a coalition? We are practicing partisan democracy; we are not practicing coalition democracy. Partisan democracy is that you have to belong to a political party before you can contest any election. When you see that your party is no longer alive and you are looking for who will give you oxygen, you have to come out from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) first before you start talking about anything.
I started by saying that you don’t change a winning team. We have seen where we were, where we are at the moment and where we are going to. At the end of the day, it is Nigerians that would decide. But that is still a long time away. We have more than two years as a government. If you want to go into how, you would win the next election, Nigerians gave you the opportunity to rule for four years and you are barely two years and have started thinking about how to win another election, which would be a total distraction. But I know that this government is focused. APC is also focused and our eyes are open. We won’t let anyone remove what is in our hands because we are not sleeping.
APC is the ruling party and you do not change a winning team. When someone is winning a match, he must continue to win. While we are saying that we are open to new ideas and contributions from people because no one knows it all, you may be the president of the country but only you cannot solve the problems of the nation, it is through collaboration that the country would become safer and stronger, so for me, APC is a strong party and we are working. From 2020 to 2025, those who were opposed to me, 79 percent of them are now with me. So, there is nothing called a party without human beings. My party is the APC and the majority of those in Imo are APC.