I am fixing my State, not after Okorocha — Ihedioha

Okorocha

Governor Emeka Ihedioha took over the mantle of leadership in Imo State on May 29, 2019. 

In this interview, he says that it is unbelievable that in Imo there is nowhere public water is running. 

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives also laments that bridges are built in my state without iron rods. 

He also says that within a few weeks on the saddle, Imo is now a preferred destination for investors. 

Emeka Ihedioha

What have you done differently since you took the governorship of Imo State?  

When I came in, I found out to my shock that there were several bank accounts in which of course led to so much revenue leakages, were as a state not making significant progress on internally generated revenue (IGR). 

The IGR base of the state was very low and when the IGR base is weak, that obviously means that we depend essentially on what comes from federal allocation. It became necessary that we  find a way out, so, I set up a Financial Advisory Committee and Financial Advisory Committee, which recommended that in view of where we are and because of our decision to instil a regime of fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability, and of course to reduce the level of corruption, we had to introduce the Treasury Single Account, TSA. 

We felt we needed to start anew, we needed to confront the issues and begin to reposition our state, that we be alive to the demands of the people. 

When the electorate voted us in, they believed in our ability to transform the state, to install a regime of transparency and accountability. This is what we are trying to do. 

So, we have done that. But apart from that, we are strengthening the Bureau for Public Procurement in the state. If check our ranking on the ease of doing business, Imo finished 34th out of 37 and in several ways we have been lagging behind, we have fallen back, deteriorated from where we used to be. 

Ours used to be a very civilized state, so we have a duty and conviction that we need to take it to that level. We have, therefore, taken steps to block the leakages. We have enjoined the MDAs to work with the authorities to ensure that we can have a transparent accountable system of running the affairs of the state. In which of the areas are you seeking help from the federal government?  Infrastructural, we have significant federal roads in Imo, most of them are not receiving attention. It is, however, important that we begin to rebuild the state in that manner. You won’t believe that in Imo there is nowhere that we have public water running, it is strange to believe but that is the fact. So what do we do? 

When we came in, we immediately tried to re-activate the water corporation, so that we can get water. We, therefore, need Federal Government support; in all facets of our economy. 

The Federal Government needs to support us in agriculture because the previous government didn’t take advantage of Federal Government favourable policies in agriculture. 

So, we are working towards an agricultural revolution, for it to become a revenue earner.