The Coalition of Imo State Young Leaders has vowed to institute a court action to stop the move by Governor Hope Uzodimma to obtain new loans to the tune of N50 billion in the 2023 fiscal year.
The Coalition’s President-General, Mr Franklin Ngoforo, said this while addressing newsmen in Owerri.
Ngoforo frowned at what he described as “tale of borrowing without accountability”, adding that it was fast becoming the order of the day under the current administration.
According to him, Uzodimma planned to borrow N50 billion naira in year 2023, as contained in the 2023 appropriation bill which is set to be presented to the House of Assembly.
He decried this, describing it as “a plan to plunge Imo state into huge and unpayable indebtedness with a very debilitating impact on the already battered economy”.
“Records from the Debt Management Office now show that Imo 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 any access roads in the rural areas, and 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.
He further noted that the group would stop at nothing to ensure that better governance was brought to Imo state.
“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.
