Chinelo Obogo
Former governors Ikedi Ohakim and Rochas Okorocha of Imo State have been accused of failing to account for the billions of naira budgeted to provide affordable residential housing in the state.
Spaces for Change, an investigative team which carried out a research into Imo governments’ commitment to the provision of shelter for citizens by comparing the budgetary allocation for housing development between 2010 to 2017, alleged that Ohakim and Okorocha’s administrations could not account for the funds meant to provide affordable housing.
In its report titled, ‘Moving from multi billion naira housing budgets to improved housing delivery in Imo State’, the research team said it found stark discrepancy between housing budgets and the delivery of affordable, livable housing in the state.
It said successive administrations of Imo State between 2010 and 2017 have placed emphasis on buildings and other public structures that neither contribute to the state’s housing stock nor tackle the housing affordability crisis in the state.
It said the bulk of the money appropriated for housing development went to projects that mainly benefited the executive including Office of the First Lady, government officials, public servants and political appointees. The research team said Imo needs a sound policy on affordable housing to guide and translate the state’s promises and commitments to housing delivery into concrete benefits for citizens in the form of affordable and decent shelter.