Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has attributed sharp increases in the state's revenues to President Bola Tinubu's economic reforms. He said the state's monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocation jumped from about ₦100 million after salaries in 2020 to over ₦10.7 billion following the removal of fuel subsidy.
Uzodimma made the remarks while receiving members of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors Media Team at the Government House in Owerri. The group had toured infrastructure projects across the state.
The governor revealed that internally generated revenue had climbed from less than ₦400 million monthly to nearly ₦6 billion. He added that the state's debt profile had fallen from ₦287 billion in 2020 to below ₦90 billion.
Drawing a comparison to the biblical exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, Uzodimma called on Nigerians to exercise patience with the Tinubu administration. "I want to liken what is happening today in Nigeria to the experience of the Israelites in the book of Exodus," he said.
He noted that God's assistance to the Israelites in their wars required only gratitude in return. "He gives us therefore a lesson to our day-to-day living on earth," Uzodimma added.
According to him, Tinubu took office with a clear grasp of the reforms needed to fix the country's challenges. "When on May 29, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in and he started rolling out reform policies, he was a man who was prepared, who understood clearly what he came to do as president," he said.
Uzodimma recalled the dire fiscal position he inherited when he assumed office in January 2020. The Accountant-General informed him that only ₦100 million remained after salaries were paid from the FAAC allocation.
"In 2020, January 15 when I was sworn in to be governor of this state, the Accountant-General told me they were going for FAAC. He came back from the FAAC meeting and told me after salary we had only ₦100 million," he said.
The contrast became stark after Tinubu's reforms took effect. "Immediately May 29, 2023 came, after FAAC I saw over ₦10.7 billion.
I said, 'What?'" Uzodimma remarked.
The governor backed the fuel subsidy removal despite opposition from some quarters. "When people were trying to oppose removal of subsidy, I had to put my belt and my jeans, I came out and said subsidy must be removed," he explained.
He expressed satisfaction that the additional resources had been deployed to visible programmes and projects across Imo. "Whatever this man has done to make us have access to funds to help the people – today I am indeed very happy and glad," Uzodimma stated.
The governor highlighted the dramatic improvement in the state's internally generated revenue performance. "I met an IGR of less than ₦400 million in 2020.
My IGR is very close to ₦6 billion a month now," he noted.
Debt reduction has also become a priority for the administration. "I met a debt profile of ₦287 billion in 2020.
Today, as I speak to you, we are less than ₦90 billion. Day by day we are reducing the debt profile so that the state can become very sovereign," Uzodimma said.
Transportation infrastructure has undergone significant transformation across the state. Travel time between different parts of Imo has dropped from two to three hours to under 45 minutes, according to Uzodimma.
The state has also made strides in electricity generation and distribution. "As today I speak, we generate, we transmit, we distribute electricity.
In Owerri capital, including this Government House, this is homemade electricity," he said.
