By Tochi Onyeubi
The Honourable Commissioner for Finance Prof. Uche Joe Uwaleke has stated that Imo state is now signatory to the open Government partnership with emphasis on participatory budget.
Speaking in an interview recently in Owerri while addressing other issues in the state, the Commissioner for Finance who said he is in close touch with the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, informed that, for the first time in years, Imo state will serve as a major policy instrument for transparency.
The Financial Economist and Professor of Finance and capital markets, who informed that the budget process in Imo, run primarily and supervised by the Ministry of Budget and Planning has for years run an opaque budget process, assured that with the coming on board of the due process governor, efforts are being put in place to make it free, transparent and participatory.
Among other things he spoke about during the interview were huge infrastructural deficit inherited from past administration, reactivating the Efficient Unit in the Ministry of Finance, Development partners in Imo, Treasury Single Account, Bailout fund, pending drop in oil revenue and a host of others.
