Governor Emeka Ihedioha of Imo State has said that he met “pathetically sick” sectors in the state on his assumption of duty six months ago.
Ihedioha, who briefed journalists Sunday night on his six-month-old administration at his private residence in Owerri, added that his team had not been finding it easy to steer the ship of the state, stressing that he would continue to work to surmount the problems.Against all odds, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor has reportedly awarded 25 road contracts to reputable road construction firms.
His words, “We have awarded 25 road contracts to reputable construction firms and we followed due process.”He regretted that over N1 billion was being deducted at source monthly by the Federal Government as bail out to the state under Rochas Okorocha.
According to Ihedioha, salaries and pensions, which are regularly paid, gulp a lot of money. The governor regretted ruling Imo at a moment requiring enormous sacrifice, which he had been doing, adding that he had applied measures to reduce cost of governance to the barest minimum in the state.He disclosed that the state government sponsored hundreds of Imo youths to Nasarawa State for technical training on modern agriculture.
The directive to employ 4,000 teachers through the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) was essentially to address the insufficiency of teachers in the sector.The governor promised to fulfil his campaign promises in the areas of addressing economy, agriculture, health, power supply, clean water among others.
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Meanwhile, Ihedioha has said that litigations instituted by his opponents against his election were causing his government distractions.
During a parley with Imo-based journalists in Owerri yesterday, he said the time he would have spent to formulate more policies and carry out programmes for the good of the state was wasted attending to litigations.He appealed to his opponents to sheathe their swords and join hands with him to rebuild the state, stressing that the state needs all hands on deck to move forward.
According to him, there is no basis for the court cases as the election that brought him to power was transparent and the true reflection of the will of Imo people. He said, “There was no fraud in Imo governorship election. Even a good number of my votes were not added. Also, I was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) because of public acceptance; hence all efforts to thwart the will of the people did not work.”
THE SUN, NIGERIA