The former Governor of Imo State and governorship candidate of Accord party for the 2019 governorship election, His Excellency Dr. Ikedi Ohakim, has called on the people of Imo State not to worry so much about the huge debt profile of the state as a result of the financial recklessness of the present administration, saying that he will offset the debts when reelected for one term only in 2019.
Ohakim noted that the N350bn and N150bn debts respectively hanging on the neck of the state are made up of borrowings and debts owed to contractors, debts owed to pensioners and civil servants and judgement debts, etc, warning that the huge debt profile will become a bigger monster to the development of the state if an experienced person is not elected governor in 2019.
He assured that he is the only person that has the cognate experience to handle the challenges facing the state, adding that a neophyte will not be able to handle such intricate matter.
Ohakim recalled that he paid the huge debt owed to local government officials by previous administrations in the state. He also recalled that though there was global economic meltdown in his first term he had to do everything within the laws of the country to ensure that those owed by previous administrations were paid, including the civil servants and pensioners, within his first 100 days in office.
He said that resolving the debt issue is core to his plans to recovering and repositioning the state economy as it is part of his 4Rs cardinal policy of Reconstruction, Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Recovery.
The 2019 Accord party governorship candidate added that paying the debts will not only restore confidence in the government but will lubricate the economy also. He said that working with the state assembly and all the stakeholders he will rely on his experience in resolving the debt issues and other issues that inhibit doing business in the state.
“Resolving the huge debts hanging on the neck of our state is at the heart of my policy to recover and reposition the economy of the state and give the people a new lease of life. It is an integral part of the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Reconciliation and Recovery of the new government. This will restore confidence in the government and provide the needed impetus for business to thrive.
“If we must have a robust economy, if our people must smile again as we made them smile in my first tenure, we must deliberately lubricate the economy and engender trust in the government; we must keep to our obligations as a government and never to make excuses. We must encourage the private sector to thrive and assist the government to serve the people and develop the state.
“We must run a transparent fiscal regime that only pays premium to due process and rule of law, domesticate the procurement law, revive the Price Intelligence Unit and have a credible contract bidding system with an efficient tenders board.
“Our contractors will not go through the pains they have been through for close to eight years now. Our pensioners will not be treated like beggars and subjected to harsh and unending verification exercises as they will be paid all they have been owed. Those who were illegally sacked, including Permanent Secretaries, will be paid their entitlements. The 10,000 Jobs scheme will come back. These will be done as part of deliberate actions to reconcile the people to the government, so that working with one accord, we will move the state forward and breathe life into it once more”, he said.
