Civic Research Organization, BudgetIT in its recent report says Ebonyi State is among the least indebted states in the country while also affirming that it is the state that has committed over 70 per cent of its revenue to capital projects.
Njenje Media News reports that the State Information Commissioner, Barrister Uchenna Orji, in an interview with THISDAY linked the feat with the passion, innovative ingenuity and leadership transformation style of Governor Dave Umahi.
According to Aliogo, the leadership style of Governor Umahi made him detest anything wasteful as he has zero-tolerance for corruption.
In his words:
“The governor inspects and supervises projects himself, so monitoring and evaluation are very important. He also ensures quality assurance and due process for projects. He also ensures prudent allocations of scarce resources. Since he came on board, we have been prioritizing investments in capital projects against recurrent expenditures, and this has helped our state in attaining the level of achievements we have today. This came to the fore in the reports by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, (NBS), Debt Management Office (DBO), and other organizations, when the States of the federation were compared by fiscal responsibilities, performance, and budget index, out of the 36 states”.
While reeling out statistics, he said:
“The budget office came up with a budget index and out of the 36 states of the federation, in the area of sustainability and self-reliance or the ability of states to be on their own, Ebonyi state was placed the fourth position in the country (that is viability and self-reliance). In the area of investment in capital projects, Ebonyi State came first, while in the area of transparency, accountability, and prudent allocation of scarce resources, the state also came first. While in overall performance, taking into account all the indices, the state took the second position among the states of the federation.
“When the budget office looked at the debt profile of every state, in the entire South-east, Ebonyi State was the least indebted State standing at number 33 in the entire 36 States of the federation. All of these indicators are counting in favour of the administration of our dear governor. This shows that the governor is a man of great leadership ability, who knows how to achieve much with little resources.
On the Presidential aspiration of the Ebonyi Governor, and the chances of the South-East as the region seeks to produce the next Nigerian President, Aliogo said:
“Well, APC has its modus operandi, in terms of getting to know who will become the president, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and has its own modus operandi. Our idea is that in 2023, by God’s grace and the will of the masses and the Nigeria population, it will be zoned to the South-east to present the President, we aim to give Nigeria’s populace the best because over the years, the South-east has not had the opportunity to produce the President, and part of the reason is because of fear and lack of confidence. We need someone who has gotten the track records. We need someone who can unite this country. Someone who is a bridge-builder and who has shown a track record of performance in the position he has occupied before or in the current position he is occupying.
“We also need someone who has zero-tolerance for corruption. We also need someone who has the energy and zeal. In some quarters, some people have opined that if you are 60 years and above, you should give an opportunity to those who are below 60 years to occupy the position. A lot of people have also said that anyone who is in any way connected with anything corruption or corruption burden, especially with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should first go and sort he/herself out before going to tell Nigerians that he/she wants to run for public office. So these are things that we feel that the South-east should be very mindful of. We need to present the best person that will not disappoint Nigeria and the person that will make a good impact. It is often said that the test of the pudding is in the eating. We have seen what those from the South-east who were given positions at the national level have done; we feel that it is up to the Nigerian people to decide. But everyone is destined to run, but we believe strongly that when the time comes, the people will choose the person that will not disappoint them.
“The person that will not be looking at amassing wealth, but developing the country. The candidate will be looking at uniting the people of Nigeria despite the ethnic differences. So the fact that two are contesting, is because God has made it for them to come from different political parties. Also, they have their own track records which are in the public domain, we cannot comment about that, but for us in Ebonyi State, the governor has no equal because we have seen people who have occupied positions from Ebonyi state, nobody has such track record the way he has. Some believe that he is a candidate to beat and can make a great difference if he has the opportunity and that is the type of leader that Nigerians want at this point in time”, he added.
