N50b new loan request: Imo Young Leaders battle gov Uzodinma

…Threaten court action

The Coalition of Imo State Young Leaders has vowed to institute a court action to stop the move by Governor Hope Uzodinma to obtain new loans to the tune of N50 billion in 2023.

The group alleged that in the borrowing plan contained in the 2023 appropriation bill which Uzodinma is set to present to the House of Assembly, there is a plan to plunge Imo state into huge and unpayable indebtedness with very debilitating impact on the already battered economy.

While addressing journalists in Owerri on Thursday, the President General of the Coalition, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, regretted that since the inception of the regime of Uzodinma, the tale of borrowing without accountability has been the order of the day.

“Records from the Debt Management Office now show that Imo has is currently owing about N239 billion. This figure shows that just in the last one year, the debt profile of the state has increased by 121%. Yet there is nothing on ground in Imo to show that such amount has been borrowed. This is totally unacceptable. It is now provocative that the government is planning to borrow more in 2023. We must stop this!

“In Imo today, there are hardly access roads in the rural areas, and so life has become unbearable for rural dwellers. For three years, Imo people are yet to know what the educational policies of this administration are. No agricultural programs, no health policies, no job creation blueprint! Imo people deserve to know what the loans taken before now by this government were used for. Our people cannot be taken for granted any more.

“As young leaders, we cannot sit back and watch our state pass this level of financial rascality,” he said.

Continuing, Ngoforo explained that the group will stop at nothing in ensuring that better governance is brought to Imo state.

His words, “We are exploring the legal option in this instance because we are confident justice will be served. Imo people have wept for too long over the festering misrule in the state. We have risen to the occasion to offer succour to our people,” he assured.