Ihedioha Says Imo IGR Worrisome; Urges Perm. Secs. To Clean-Up

By Our Reporter

In furtherance of his determination to address the rot in various sectors in the State, Imo State Governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha CON, has directed Permanent Secretaries in the State to block all leakages in the Service to enable the government re-position the civil service for greater efficiency.

Speaking on Wednesday at the swearing-in of new permanent Secretaries, the Governor said his administration is bent on restoring public confidence in governance which had been eroded over the past years.

He said his administration is determined to rebuild the State, particularly the civil service, urging the permanent secretaries to live up to their responsibilities by joining hands with his administration to achieve this task.

Bemoaning the state of the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR,  Ihedioha pointed out that Imo State ranks top in human capacity development in the country, fifth in GDP, but  expressed worry  at the low IGR.

He pointed out that the State’s GDP and IGR do not tally, calling on the permanent secretaries to bring their wealth of experience to improve and remedy the deplorable situation, particularly in the state civil work force.

He disclosed that the IGR of the State has increased from  N241 million naira,  which was the figure when he assumed office, to almost N800 Million as at the end of September.

He said, “We expect you to take responsibility for the actions and inactions of your staff as we will not accept the plea of ignorance on your part. All hands must be on deck to achieve our determination to rebuild the State.

The new permanent secretaries are Mrs. Perpetua Anyanwu (Local Government Service Commission), Mrs. Angela Iheanacho (Public Utilities), Barr. Obiageli Edith Amadi-Obi (Gender and Vulnerable Affairs) and Dr. Anthony Igwe (Health).