Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma, yesterday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari, seeking his intervention in the refund of over N32 billion spent on rehabilitation of federal roads in the state.
Uzodinma who spoke with journalists after the meeting in Aso Rock Villa said Imo was “financially distressed.”
He said the funds if released would assist in clearing pension and salary arrears of workers.
He said consultants engaged to work on the finances of the state had discovered that about N32 billion was spent on federal roads in the past, but was not refunded.
Uzodinma said President Buhari gave him listening ears as he presented the state’s financial status to him.
“I came to discuss with President on some critical areas. Imo State as you know is not solvent; it is financially distressed.
“The roads are so bad, security situation is rough, education is backward and there are a lot of things to do and we don’t have the money.
“I have come to request the kind intervention of Mr. President, to at least refund, some monies spent on some of the federal roads before my arrival so that we can address some pressing issues like pension,salary arrears so that we can get back the people, recover the people first, before we begin to talk of infrastructure.
“The consultants are still working, but so far, we have computed the monies in the neighbourhood of N32 billion.
“My first application to Mr. President, I articulated those ones that will have prior approval before construction and a total sum of N12 billion has been recorded, and I have submitted the request, and in his magnanimity, he has assured me that he will look into it very considerably,” Uzodinma said.
On plans to boost the state’s revenue, Uzodinma said: “It is good to be a creative thinker as a leader. I will look into how to make my IGR worthwhile. We will look for what are the peculiarities on ground and do those things so that we will not be over tasking the citizens for the purposes of raising money.
“We will do what will be a win-win situation between the government and the people in such a manner that those who are paying the money will not suffer from harsh environment, they will be willing to support the government, and government also will not be losing monies.
“For instance, if you have these petty traders, people whose incomes are between zero to N100,000 running after them to pay tax, for me it does not make any strong sense. We should look at our tax regimes and policies and see how we can get a review to some of them.”