It is gradually becoming a fact that the economy of the State may have been bastardized or balkanized by the immediate past administration of Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha following a report by the Auditor General for Local Governments of Imo State submitted in line with the law.
The apprehension is that Emeka Ihedioha that was purportedly touted in every corner as a prudent administrator that has no interest in public funds suddenly became an instrument of scam against the state.
Little wonder why a man said to have struggled to make Imo state the Dubai of Africa allowed himself to be trapped into the mess of public funds without recur to his image.
Initially the bubble got bursted, majority of Imolites saw the claim as “given a dog a bad name to hang it”, but as the event continued to unfold, there has been clearer indications that the alleged looted N19.63 billion disappeared ‘Vam” without a trace.
No doubt, the disappearance of the funds is a decor to probe deeper into other sketchy financial dealings of the past administrations within the period under review, who knows if more revelations will be unraveled.
Be that as it may, the issue of the alleged missing funds has divided Imo people into two segments; (ndi kwe na ndi ekweghi), i.e. the club of believers and the forum of unbeliever that the said “huge” sum was actually siphoned within seven months by the man at the center of the storm.
However, the doubt remains why people could sheepishly believe that such widely chorused missing funds was not yanked off by the immediate past Governor of the state.
Expectedly, the role these unbelievers and pro-Ihedioha should be playing to assist the erstwhile Chief Executive Officer of the state to show their love for him and the state is to persuade him to corporate and dialogue with the Imo state government to nip this ugly trend in the bud.
Even those benefiting from the excruciating media war or hype to champion and sustain the “good” image of the former Governor may be doing him good without putting into cognizance that their actions were at the detriment of the state and her people.
It is a public issue that politicians cannot be trusted or vouched for to some extent, therefore anyone defending or criticizing the alleged missing funds as a way to demonstrate his/her loyalty to the former Governor is either wicked, fraudulent or a partner in the gang up to rape the state’s economy.
Come to think of it, a man who almost sold his residents to cling a political position is ready to recoup every dime from government coffer entrusted in him. This is either to enable him service bank loans or to renovate dilapidated buildings to show affluence before the guests.
Former Governor Emeka Ihedioha is not different from the class of politicians with high taste. According to Plato in one of his messages to the young aspiring leaders, he told them that, “a prisoner in materialism is always a scholar of extravagance, arrogance and fraud”
But when Plato’s postulation was attempted to be faulted by Einstein who said that extravagance is a way of life in disguise, Plato said that, “no conscious business man is comfortable with personal wealth, than a politician with public funds”. This is indeed the words of wisdom!
As an apostle of change who traded on a political mantra of ” Rebuild Imo”, one expected him to live up to expectation as a supreme price of sanity in governance to correct all forms of administrative insanities.
Painfully, Imo state government has become a bastardized enclave where over conscious political field Marshalls demonstrate all manner of recklessness and luxuriousness as against the wishes of the entire citizens.
It is becoming believable that looting of state treasury is a reoccurring decimal where bankrupt individuals use to offset accumulated loans and debts.
Little wonder if messages widely advertised and canvassed by these heartless people in sheep’s clothing are not adhered to strictly for the good of the society. A situation where every politician is likened the same calls for urgent reappraisal.
The alleged looted funds caught the attention of Auditor General for Local Governments.
As a Senior Civil Servant who is neither a politician nor retired from service, he made it a point of duty to apply to the state government to empower him to recover the money, owing to the fact that he is an expert in financial auditing.
Following his readiness to unravel the mystery behind the disappeared funds, the state government approved his request to take necessary steps to recover N19.63 billion allegedly siphoned from the State Local Government Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC), through the Bureau for Local government and Chieftaincy Affairs (BLGCA), headed by Chief Mayor Eze within seven months in office.
In a surprised revelation, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba said that the staggering amount was allegedly siphoned either for spurious and phony projects, projects/contracts not executed, and or through huge cash withdrawals for undisclosed purposes.
Emelumba in one of his press conferences said that the misappropriated funds was discovered during a routine audit of the accounts and records of JAAC with the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs by the Local Governments Auditor General for the fiscal year.
He continued that government’s action was in line with the NEW IMO Agenda to entrench a resilient and transparent public service and restore financial discipline and rule of law premised on extant laws pertaining to the Custody, Management and Appropriation of Public Funds.
Regrettably, it annoys a sane person’s imagination to see gullible individuals drop the name of the office of the Auditor General for Local Governments or any other link as been behind the former Governor’s ordeal.
For crying out loud, no politician is a saint as no human being is perfect, there is no way the former Governor would have held sway within the period under review without encroaching into mischievous spending of the local government funds.
Happily, the Imo State chapter of the People Democratic Party, PDP, in one of their press releases said that former Governor Emeka Ihedioha has nothing to fear nor afraid of accounting for his stewardship to the people of Imo State.
“The party made it open that Ihedioha will not sit idly by and condors deliberate twisting of facts in a kangano trial with a meditated and predestined outcome”.
What is most important for him to do now as a leader who came on board with the primary mandate to rebuild Imo is to humble himself to corporate with the government to identify areas the alleged missing funds were channeled.
But it becomes immaterial and unintelligent for the “busy bodies” to offer themselves for a free media consultancy with the aim of laundering the image of the former Governor when he had approached the court to stop his ongoing probe.
The position of PDP vide the State Secretary of the party, Nze Ray Emeagha, stated that it was clear that the condition precedent for the House of Assembly to assume Jurisdiction to investigate the interim Auditor’s report had not been met. It posited that under the circumstances, it became imperative for Ihedioha to seek the intervention of the Court following obvious breaches in the processes and procedures of the purported probe.
However, one wonders why the former Governor has gone to court to stop the probe after his political party expressed readiness on the exercise, while informing Imolites that Hon Ihedioha has nothing to fear nor afraid of accounting for his stewardship to the people of Imo State.
What should be of concern to all Imo people is the acceptance of N3.7 billion out of the N19.63 billion undergoing probe by Hon Ihedioha and his party. To the doubting Thomas, it is a bit believable that the action of the Auditor General for Local Governments to recover the alleged looted funds was not to witch hunt anyone which evidences in the preliminary acceptance of part of the money by the accused.
For clarity sake, the writer got no one’s mandate to hold brief but as a social analyst and an Impolite, he sees nothing wrong to analyse issues affecting the state and as well provide solution to wrestle the ongoing financial imbroglio for the good of the society to avoid name calling and dropping.
Ikenna ONUOHA, is a Journalist and Public Relations Consultant. He is the State Publicity Secretary, Imo Concerned Citizens (ICC).
