Why Imo won fastest growing economy award, by Ihedioha

Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha has said that a combination of policies and programmes created the atmosphere that made the state the fastest growing economy in Nigeria.

On Thursday, November 21, Business Day Newspaper held its yearly state competitiveness and good governance award and recognised Imo as the fastest growing economy.

Special assistant to the Imo governor on research, Ogu Bundu Nwadike, said the award was no fluke because since Ihedioha got into office, his priority had been the holistic economic development of the state.

He stated, “The governor first re-invented and re-created the economic development template for Imo State. It all began with the creation of vital Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that enhance economic development.

“Meanwhile, he began massive construction and reconstruction of roads across the state and public water supply was restored, which will begin to flow in Owerri and from there to other parts of the state. These were the things that enhanced economic growth.

“Recall also that in October, the efforts at growing the Imo economy paid off when Afrexim Bank uploaded an investment project valued at $50 million (N18 billion) in Imo.”

According to him, at the end of October, the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Imo State Internal Revenue Service (IIRS), reported that the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Imo was approaching the N1 billion mark. As at May 29, it was a paltry N200 million.

“The governor has also ensured transparency and accountability by adopting the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in the state. By doing that, the governor ended a voodoo financial transaction system in the state, which snuffed life out of the operation of over 250 bank accounts by the government of Imo under the watch of the immediate past governor,” Nwadike added.