Least corrupt: Yet another milestone for Imo State

It is a wonderful feeling pervading the length and breadth of
Imo State currently. It is as if the people of the state are
getting a double treat this Christmas season. The cheery
news is the announcement recently that Imo State is the
least corrupt state in the country.
The affirmation is coming from no less a quarter than the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) working in partnership
with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
and UK AID.
Imolites are much justified to feel a sense of pride and
esteem considering their recent past that was marked by
mockery and widespread odium.
That the state has leapfrogged from being among the most
corrupt and derided to being the beacon of good
governance and respectability in just about six months may
seem surprising to outsiders but close watchers of the
Governor Emeka Ihedioha administration will nod their head
in agreement that this can only be the logical conclusion to
Governor Ihedioha’s avowed resolve to run Imo as a model
state.
Governor Ihedioha was ab initio, clear-headed about his
vision and mission for Imo State. In his inaugural address,
he stated it most unambiguously that he would run the state
by global best practices and standards.
“The engine of good governance must always be lubricated
with the oils of due process, rule of law and fiscal
discipline. We will abide by that philosophy.”
Elucidating this point, Governor Ihedioha stated further: “We
will enthrone appropriate due process mechanism as a
cardinal administrative tool of our government in order to
achieve value for money and ensure fairness, transparency
and competitiveness in the running of government business.
To this end, we shall revive and revitalize the Bureau of
Public Procurement (BPP) in the state and strengthen
enabling laws on the subject.”
True to his word, one of his first policy decisions upon
assuming office was to resuscitate the moribund Bureau of
Public Procurement and Price Intelligence (BPPPRI). And
among the first appointments was Chief Pascal Egwim, a
former Shell procurement executive and one of the
patriarchs of Nigeria’s procurement family as director-
general of the Bureau.
Just as no major contract or procurement matter of the
state is done outside the state’s Executive Council, no such
fiscal document is approved without the express input of
Imo State BPPPRI.
In fact this bureau has become the nemesis of heads of
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the state.
A council memo requiring substantial expenditure is not
ready and will not get approval unless BPPPRI raises a
‘certificate of no objection.’
In like manner, a copy of the state’s procurement law has
been circulate to all executive council members while
BPPPRI has been carrying out cabinet-wide training to
underscore the importance of this singular issue to the
Ihedioha administration.
Other factors that have earned Imo State the coveted prize
include expedited introduction and adoption of the Treasury
Single Account revenue collection platform. This was done
through the instrumentality of Executive Order 005.
Before May 29, Imo State government under Governor
Rochas Okorochas’ watch had no less than 250 bank
accounts. MDAs and in many cases, individuals ran revenue
accounts on behalf of the state government.
This of course turned the state’s treasury into a free-for- all
bazaar where everyone had unfettered access.
With TSA today, all state’s revenues are collected through
one source and the wanton pillage of Okorocha era has
been reduced to the barest minimum.
The immediate and palpable result of introducing the TSA is
the sharp rise in the internally generated revenue of Imo
State. While the state reported N253m collection in June
(Okorocha’s template), the inflow has continued to rise to
N342m in July, N535m in August, N785m in September,
N877m in October and N946 by end of November.
Imo State today is pushing for the two billion naira monthly
IGR mark; seeking to be among the top IGR earning states
in Nigeria.
Another remarkable move by Governor Ihedioha and his
team in such short period of time which must have
impacted on the state’s corruption index is the reform of
the pension scheme of Imo State.
By October 17, barely five months after the inception of this
administration, Imo’s rotten pension system had been
reformed and fully digitized.
Payment commenced again after over four years of no
payment of pension by the previous government. According
to the National Union of Pensioners, Imo State chapter was
among the leading debtor state in Nigeria with about 12
years of unpaid gratuities and six years of unpaid pension
amounting to about N80 billion unpaid backlog.
Imo pension was a system that was deliberately muddled by
corruption and in turn was corrupted via deliberate muddle
up.
The story is different today. The system has been vastly
cleaned through careful verification, biometric capture of
over 24000 pensioners.
The pension system has been fully digitized with all verified
pensioners receiving monthly payment alerts on their phones
through an e-payment system.
Ghost pensioners have been exorcised, fiddling officials
have been eliminated from the system and today, Imo State
has among the best pension schemes in Nigeria.
Consequently, Imo Pension Commission has been set up
with a mandate to migrate to the contributory pension
scheme in the near future.

It is also noteworthy that in the first few weeks of his
administration, Governor Ihedioha appointed his
commissioner of Justice and Attorney General; long before
other cabinet members were considered.
His explanation was that it is obtuse to run a state without a
chief law officer. It is also important to note that the
governor appointed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and one of
the best legal minds in the land.
Ihedioha’s mantra at every turn is rule of law and due
process. No critical council decision is taken without
recourse to the attorney-general; indeed, most times, he has
the last say.
This is how the governor encapsulated his vision of
institutionalized good governance during his inauguration. I
quote: “Without checks and balances and the dedication of
the legislative arm of government to its oversight functions,
the tendency of the executive arm or even the judiciary to
derail is high.
As an accomplished lawmaker, my abiding faith is in the
mutual respect and cooperation of the three arms of
government will define the relationship of my administration
with the state legislature.
“Likewise, we shall respect the financial autonomy of the
judiciary by implementing the provisions of the 1999
Constitution as it is at the heart of judicial independence.”
Indeed, numerous reasons abound why Imo has been
adjudged the least corrupt state in the land as surveyed by
the NBS between May 29th and November.
Eleven laws have been passed in Imo during this period,
probably the highest in Nigeria; the local government
authorities enjoy ample financial autonomy as they embark
on projects that engender healthy competition and peer
benchmarking.
Finally, just as the Imo Executive Council has not missed a
sitting since the inception of the Ihedioha administration, so
has the governor not missed a chance to reiterate at every
sitting, his commitment to run Imo State properly deploying
the best governance precepts.
It is no wonder that all the multilateral agencies in the UN
system (e.g. UNICEF, WHO, even World Bank and USAID)
that fled the state during the immediate past administration
have returned under an atmosphere of transparency and
openness.
Imo is keyed to the Open Government Forum, open
budgeting and prompt release of counterpart funds for
social intervention projects.
From the forgoing it must be said that the National Bureau
of Statistics is not in error in naming Imo the least corrupt
state in Nigeria today; the facts of the matter are indeed
self-evident.