The social democratic party, SDP, Imo State chapter has cried out at what it described as a failed Imo State under Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s All Progressives Congress, APC, government.
The steering committee chairman of the party in the state, Ogubuike Comrade Chinedu made the assertion Saturday in Owerri during his inauguration as the steering committee chairman of the party in state. The Chairman who pledged that the party would redeem Imo from the present state of hopelessness alleged that the APC government in Imo has elevated ‘familiocracy’ to official policy while exhibiting alleged disrespect for God’s servants aside alleged conversion of Imo to personal estate.
He disclosed that official statistics from National Bureau of Statistic, NBS, Debt Management Office and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, allegedly indicated that Imo State under Okorocha was groaning under a crippling debt over-hang of 62.8 million dollars as at 2017 leaving the state according to it, among the 10 most indebted states in Nigeria.
According to him, while states like Lagos and Edo invested their borrowings judiciously, there are is no tangible regenerative projects with which Gov Okorocha could beat his deist and say he invested his own borrowing even as the party lamenting that Imo under Okorocha has gone 20 years backward.
“The most disturbing of this backwardness according to the chairman is the destruction of public water supply in Owerri which the Mbakwe government borrowed millions of dollars to build in the state capital as well as drainages built by his predecessors. He stressed that all these were destroyed in the name of urban renewal programme which was never executed based on due process, procedures and rule of law”, the party said.
SDP said it was seriously worried about alleged over 30 months arrears of unpaid pensions owed Imo pensioners, and promised that the party would reclaim Imo in 2019, re-engineer the civil service and give 40% elective positions to youths aside re-jigging the socio-economic fabrics of Imo. It said Okorocha and APC should start packing out of Douglas House for SDP to take over.
