By Valentine Amanze
The administration of Chief Emeka Ihedioha in Imo State, has commenced an “open budget system” to enable the subjects know the state’s income and expenditure.
The state Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Reginald Ihebuzor, disclosed this in Owerri, the state capital.
He pointed out that there was the need for the citizens to know their state budget, adding that it makes, also for transparency and accountability.
The commissioner revealed that for the past eight years of the former Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration, the Imo people were put in the dark about the budget system and the results of the audits of the state government’s accounts.
He said unlike the past administration, Governor Ihedioha, has resolved to maintain the policy of transparency and accountability.
He further said that his office has engaged the office of the auditor-general to examine the accounts of the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 and make their findings public.
According to him, the new system makes for easy auditing, as the audited accounts are being released to the public, pointing out that “why we
have not been releasing our audited accounts for the past years, just like the former Governor Rochas Okorocha’s, had done during his time, was because he “Rochas” had operated a lot of fiscal issues under
secrecy for the purpose of misappropriating the state fund”.
“Imo people can now see what we are doing as we have now started work on the 2020 budget,” he said.