The immediate past administration of Imo State Government under Owelle Rochas Okorocha has been accused of putting the state in serious debt burden.
A revelation by the Debt Management Office, DMO and Bureau of Statistics and various transition committees indicated that debt burden of states in the country increased in the last dispensation with that of Imo State included.
According to details Trumpeta obtained online, “Twelve states where there was a change of government recently are reeling under heavy debt burden amounting to over N2tr, online investigations have shown. Analysis of official data from Debt Management Office (DMO), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), and various reports of transitional committees revealed that the debt increased under the immediate past governments in the states.
“For instance, the DMO data did not include debts incurred using local contractors, suppliers, and consultants. DMO data only covered debts incurred by states through official borrowings such as multilateral and bilateral foreign and local financial institutions, investment securities like bonds and treasury bills.
“These debts rose despite a series of billions channeled to the states by the federal government as federal allocations (FAAC), bailouts, Paris fund refunds, among others. Former Governors Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), and nine others increased their states’ domestic debt stock by over 200 percent from N412.98bn as at when they assumed office to N1.37tr as at when they left the office. During the same period, the 12 governors combined increased their states’ external debt stock by 81 percent from $1.75bn as at the inception of their tenures to $2.16bn as at when they vacated their offices.
Trumpeta learnt that the governors borrowing increased their states’ domestic debt stock by over 200 percent and their foreign debt stock by over 81 percent.. Rising debt burden Data sourced from DMO show that Lagos States’ domestic debt stock rose to N530.24bn as at December 31, 2018. In Imo State, domestic debt rose to N98.78bn at December 31, 2018, from N25.42bn recorded as at December 31, 2011, while external debt rose to $59.52m from $50.28m during the same period. Imo State’s IGR from 2011 to 2018 stood at N61.32bn, being N37.46bn short of the total domestic stock the governor bequeathed to the state after he vacated office. Imo’s FAAC allocation between 2013 and 2017 is N226.4bn.
Arguments of debt profile of the state arising from borrowing have been rife even before Okorocha’s two terms tenure elapsed. On several occasions the former governor had denied not owing or plunging the state into debt.
However, the new administration has not been able make public the debt profile of the state it met on ground on May 29, 2019.
What it has succeeded was to reel out garnishee cases running into billions, the past administration incurred.
