Uzodimma Spends N50 Million On Entertainment, N20 Million On Gifts To Govt Guests

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has allegedly spent N50 million on entertainment and N20 million on gifts to government guests in three months.

According to the state budget performance report, the Imo government spent over N650 million on stationery, gifts to government guests, entertainment and others and expended N30 million on poverty alleviation between July-September 2023.

The report shows that the state government spent the sum of N89,975,000 on office stationery and computer consumables and N21,070,000 on magazines and periodicals (newspapers).

Within the three months, the report analysed by SaharaReporters on Wednesday also showed the state government spent N10,675,820.29 on leave bonuses, while N506,434,736.31 was spent on unspecified items tagged “others.”

The report also shows that the Imo State government under Uzodimma, in the three months under review, recorded zero allocations for items such as “provision of water facilities, hospitals and health centres, libraries and ICT infrastructures.”

The report titled “Imo State Government Budget Performance Report – 2023 Quarter 3,” was “produced by the Account General Department/Ministry of Finance/Ministry of Planning and Budget/Imo State equivalent and published on the Imo State website.”

It stated that “This report includes the originally approved budget appropriation for the year 2023 against each organizational unit for each of the core economic classification of expenditures (Personnel, Overheads, Capital, and Others); the actual expenditures for the quarter Q3, attributed to each organizational unit, as well as the cumulative expenditures for the year to date, and balances against each of the revenue and expenditure appropriations.”

The report also stated that the Imo government spent a total sum of N200,000,000 on Heartland Football Club, while ₦5,000,000 was spent on constructing and equipping the gatehouse at the deputy governor’s lodge.

The document further showed that the governor spent the sum of N133,886,325.69 on transport within the three months under review, while he approved N30,000,000 for poverty alleviation in the state within the same period.