This report reveals how the Imo State Government spent N101.54 billion outside approved budgets between 2023 and 2025, exposing a pattern of fiscal breaches that coincided with rising unemployment, underfunded schools and neglected agricultural programmes.
In three years, government offices under Governor Hope Uzodimma’s administration in Imo State spent N101.54 billion outside approved budgets.
While billions are spent without legislative approval, key sectors such as education, agriculture, and youth development remain underfunded.
A breakdown of the spending shows a steady trend. In 2023, N36.94 billion was spent outside the budget. In 2024, N22.54 billion was spent, while N42.06 billion was spent in 2025. This amounted to N101.54 billion in extra-budgetary spending over three years.
Despite varying sums each year, the story that ties the amounts together is that public funds were spent outside appropriation limits, often by the same offices, with no evidence of legislative approval.
In 2025, the most recent year, extra-budgetary spending reached N42.06 billion across 26 government offices.
The excess in 2025 expenditure spanned three categories: personnel expenditure, overhead expenditure and “other expenditure”.
In public finance, such spending can only occur legally if supplementary approvals are obtained from the legislature. However, the reports for the three years indicate that such approvals were not secured, flagging the expenditures as extra-budgetary.
In 2025, the overspending began with personnel costs: salaries and related expenses across several government offices.
The Office of the Head of Service, responsible for managing the state’s civil service, had a budget of N6.44 billion but spent N8.3 billion, exceeding its allocation by N1.86 billion.
Interestingly, institutions meant to guard against financial irregularities and issue queries to erring offices were themselves caught in the pattern.
The Office of the Auditor-General for the State, which audits government spending, overshot its N78.2 million personnel budget by N12.65 million.
Similarly, the Auditor-General for the Local Governments exceeded its personnel allocation by N31.62 million, spending N101.93 million against a budget of N70.31 million.
Other agencies also breached their limits.
The Local Government Service Commission overspent by N23.76 million, while the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission exceeded its allocation by N3 million.
Several ministries followed the same pattern.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security exceeded its personnel budget by N67.1 million, while the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation overspent by N26.78 million.
The Ministry of Works and Infrastructure Development spent beyond its personnel budget by N35.27 million, while the Ministry of Budget, Economic Planning and Statistics overspent by N43.04 million.
Within the judiciary, the Judicial Service Commission recorded one of the largest deviations; spending N435.93 million against a budget of N208.67 million, an excess of N227.27 million.
The Customary Court of Appeal overspent its personnel budget by N179.47 million.
The Ministry of Justice also recorded a significant breach, spending N892.3 million against a budget of N554.57 million.
The Ministry of Youth Development and Talent Hunt also posted an expenditure that deviated from the budget: its personnel budget rose from N48.08 million to N190.6 million, an excess of N142.52 million.
Other agencies that overspent include: Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare – excess of N55.94 million, Ministry of Education (Primary and Secondary) – excess of N57.62 million, Ministry of Environment and Sanitation – excess of N23.98 million, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs – excess of N7.69 million and Imo State Sports Commission – excess of N54.26 million.
In 2025, while funds disbursed for personnel costs showed fiscal strain, overhead spending by the Imo State Government revealed more aberration.
The Office of the Governor spent N13.77 billion against an approved overhead budget of N5.24 billion. The overspending of N8.52 billion represents an expenditure of 162.6 per cent above the approved amount.
However, the most startling spike came from the Ministry of Information, Public Orientation and Strategy. With an approved overhead budget of N88.2 million, the ministry spent N884.9 million, exceeding its allocation by N796.69 million, which translates to over 1,000 per cent.
Other offices also exceeded their overhead limits: the Office of the Secretary to the State Government overspent by N135.76 million, the Ministry of Finance overspent by N83.6 million, and the Imo State Internal Revenue Service overspent by N130.48 million.
The Ministry of Digital Economy and E-Government recorded one of the largest overhead breaches. It spent N1.42 billion against a budget of N301.86 million, exceeding the approved limit by N1.12 billion.
The Ministry of Education (Primary and Secondary) overspent its overhead allocation by N405.77 million.
In another unusual case, the Ministry of Special Projects recorded N2 million in overhead spending despite having no approved overhead budget.
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