The Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, says a powerful cabal fleeced the state of billions of naira monthly until his emergence as governor this year.
He revealed this in an interview published by Saturday Vanguard as part of activities marking his 100 days in office.
Uzodinma disclosed that this powerful cabal perpetrated the atrocity through a massive payroll fraud.
The governor’s revelation came while responding to a question on the challenges he met in office.
“I already mentioned some of them as no hand over note, empty treasury etc. But I think that one major problem I met on ground was a corrupt public sector that allowed millions of public funds to be fleeced by just a few.
“For instance there was this monumental payroll fraud in both the public and civil service through which billions of naira were lost to a cabal monthly.
“I also met a very sorry situation on ground wherein monthly allocation to the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Commission (ISOPADEC) was shared amongst a few buccaneers from the area who claim to be leaders.
“The situation was really pitiable because every month these buccaneers just shared the 13% allocated to ISOPADEC for the development of the oil producing areas leaving the area with no development.
“So a corrupt public sector was a major problem. Another major problem was that official government offices and lodges such as the state civil service secretariat, the governor’s office, the State House of Assembly, the governor’s lodge, the Speaker’s lodge etc. were all in a state of disrepair. You can say that the entire government apparatus was in a state of rancid decay and this greatly ridiculed the image of government,” Uzodinma said.
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