According to a news report, the state budget commissioner, Christopher Osuala, spoke with the governor's special adviser on public enlightenment, Eze Ugochukwu, who announced that the governor had decided to conform with the bank’s program for fiscal transparency, accountability, and sustainability in state government.
Osuala added that the state was hoping to apply for and earn a 2023 grant in the same capacity from the bank.
He explained that the Uzodimma-led administration had managed to bring about innovations in infrastructure projects since it took office, a feat no other government was able to achieve since the creation of Imo State in 1976.
Osuala spoke about the state's grant and what it was used for, including several components. He said, “The SFTAS is a programme by the World Bank and Federal Government of Nigeria to deepen transparency in budgeting processes for qualified states.
“The SFTAS consists of different requirements in form of Disbursement Link Indicators, which are assigned tasks that the World Bank designed for institutions, as well as states that are qualified to participate in Budgeting and Budgetary Performance Indicators.
“The second component is Disbursement Linked Results, which World Bank’s Independent Verification Assessors use as yardsticks to assess institutions and states’ performance compliance in relation to DLIs performance evaluation. The synopsis of the SFTAS is predicated on Performance for Results. This means that states can earn financial grant reward after performance in all indicators of budgetary requirements; then World Bank rewards the state based on results of its efforts.”
He also credited the state’s budget cycle as being crucial to accomplishing it.
He said, “The state earns grants based on the DLIs that are successfully achieved within the budget cycle. It is vital that since the inception of Imo State in 1976, none of the previous administrations have been able to link the state’s budget to World Bank Budgetary Transparency Programmes. The Uzodimma’s government is the only administration that has accomplished this feat through publication of the Citizen Budget in accordance to World Bank’s requirements.”
