Why we are getting first grade rating – Imo Govt.

The incumbent government of Imo State under the leadership of Governor Emeka Ihedioha says it is gaining wide recognition and first-grade rating due to policies and programmes introduced by the administration since assumption of office which have led to blockage of conduits for corruption and impoverishment of the populace, especially civil servants and pensioners that characterised the immediate past government in the state.

It would be recalled that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS recently rated Imo as the least corrupt state in Nigeria. The rating which is contained in NBS’s latest report titled: “The 2nd Corruption Survey Report in Nigeria,” was released at the State House Conference Center in Abuja, on Friday.

Imo was rated the least corrupt state in Nigeria with 17.6%, followed by Jigawa and Plateau States. The survey was conducted with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, in collaboration with other partner international agencies and was announced by the Statistician-General of the Bureau, Dr. Yemi Kalein the presence of the Country Representative of the UNODC in Nigeria, Mr. Oliver Stople.

Although the immediate past governor of the state Rochas Okorocha in a statement by his media aide has claimed that the rating was for the period he was in office, the Emeka Ihedioha’s administration says it has no plan to engage in unnecessary comparism, adding that there is nobody in Imo State that is not aware of the kind of leadership that the former governor provided the people when civil servants and pensioners were owed for months while roads, bridges and other infrastructures collapsed completely.

Responding to questions from Daily Times on the NBS rating, the state commissioner for Information and Orientation Barrister Emeka Felix Ebiliekwe said while the Ihedioha’s administration is not in the habit of praising itself, it has adopted a ‘zero tolerance for corruption’ since it took over the mantle of leadership which he said is exemplified by the policies and programmes of the administration, adding that the ugly system they met is being sanitised while entrenching policies policy of transparency, accountability and due process.

“As such, His Excellency, Governor Emeka Ihedioha upon assumption of office declared his administration’s resolve to strictly abide by the rule of law and total adherence to due process in the conduct of all government businesses.

Hence, he introduced the adoption of the TSA (Treasury Single Account), by this singular action he streamlined government resources and brought same into a single pool, for easy monitoring and evaluation, unlike what was obtained in the lifespan of the immediate past administration, wherein the state had more than 250 different bank accounts in the name of government, thereby creating room for pilfering and tendency for corruption.

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“In like manner Governor Ihedioha conducted a comprehensive reform in the civil service, as we met a very demoralized and despondent civil service, who were made so by the unfriendly policies of the past administration, such that they were not only owed by the past government, but their salaries reduced by 30%,” the commissioner said.

Apart from paying the civil servants their 100 percent salaries as well as resumption of payment of pension to senior citizens who retired after serving the state, Barrister Ebiliekwe said, a lot of anomalies were discovered with regards to operational tactics of the last administration.

“Consequently, the Ihedioha’s government moved in to quickly correct the anomalies in the civil service payment schedule, and conducted a verification exercise, which was recently concluded by the government, and which threw up some absurdities in the civil service system which were corrected, and reverted back to paying the civil servants 100 % of their salaries, this proactive action of the Ihedioha’s government greatly imparted positively on the workforce by way of motivation, and equally improved their productivity, while the verification exercise eradicated ghost workers as well.

“Subsequently, it is on record too that before the arrival of the Ihedioha’s government, Imo pensioners were groaning in the heat of unpaid pensions, most agonising was that of not even getting full payment of their pensions at the period they were last paid.

However, it is gratifying to submit that such issue is now a thing of the past, as the pension verification exercise recently concluded its exercise and payment of pensions has been made seamless. Our senior citizens now get alerts for payment of pensions from the comfort of their homes and are paid 100% of their due monthly pension package.

“One important aspect of curbing corruption is to make the workforce happy through payment of salaries promptly. When you halved people’s salaries you’re indirectly encouraging them to steal from government.

However, when you meet the exigencies of your workforce promptly with the closing of the loopholes through the TSA, then getting the workforce to imbibe discipline becomes easier,” the commissioner stated.

He said the recent massive deployment of equipments and resumption of construction of roads and other infrastructures in the state is as a result of prudent and transparent spending by the Ihedioha administration.

“This also helped in no small means to saving enough to embark on aggressive pursuit of road rehabilitation, construction and reconstruction. As at the last count, the Ihedioha’s administration has ambitiously awarded the contract for 25 strategic roads in the state which work is ongoing simultaneously.

You can see the agricultural sector, health, the ICT, and Education, the government is also revolutionizing the entire sectors of the economy in a pragmatic manner.

“Now to the issue of rating of Imo state as the least corrupt state in Nigeria, and the insinuations from some quarters that the rating might be evaluation of the immediate past government in Imo state, those holding to this view do so because they judge the government of Ihedioha as relatively too young to make such impact in so short a time in office.

However unknown to such that so hold, there was a similar evaluation of the state by state corruption index in late 2018, when the immediate past government was holding sway, and Imo state was returned as one of the states said to be corruption-riddled.

“I will submit by saying that it is not really how far but how well, as within the short stay in office so far, the Ihedioha’s administration has shown capacity and resilience in prudent and frugal management of the resources of the state, hence it will not come to us as surprising if we are so rated as having zero tolerance for corruption.

“The National Bureau of Statistics conducted the survey with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, in addition to other partner international agencies, and their submission is not far-fetched from the reality on ground in the Imo state of today, because the Ihedioha’s government has strict financial discipline in place to checkmate corruption.

“The index is there, that upon assumption of office, we met internally generated revenue for the month of May at slightly above N200million naira, however within few months we are almost clocking N1billion as internally generated revenue of the state. This on its own is a sure sign that the prior loopholes wherein easy access to government revenues has been blocked.

“We can go on and on. However, we make bold to say that given what we met on ground when we came into office, and the style of financial rascality that was the hallmark of the immediate past government, it will be foolhardy for anyone to insinuate that what they did in office earned Imo state the rating as it were,” the commissioner said, adding that the administration is determined to take the state to greater heights.

“Nevertheless, we as a government are poised to maintain the rating and continue to improve on it, and judging by the focused, determined and transparent leadership endowments of Governor Ihedioha, instilling discipline into the workforce is easy, because he leads by example,” he concluded.