Dons Eze
IMO GOVERNOR, UZODINMA, BEGINS PAYMENT Of GRATUITIES TO RETIRED CIVIL SERVANTS
Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, is to begin payment of backlog arrears of gratuities to retired civil servants in the State.
In the same vein, the governor said he would establish a power generating plant that wouldn’t serve the interest of the people of the State before he leaves office.
Addressing stakeholders on Sunday, at the banquet hall of Imo State Government House to mark the birthday of the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie, the governor said he was determined to leave the State much better than he met it.
Governor Uzodinma promised to start payment of accumulated pensions and gratuities of retired Imo civil servants which were left unattended for a very long time.
According to him, “from Tuesday next week all civil servants that worked for the state will start receiving alerts of their gratuities.
“I want to thank the organised labour in Imo State for their support of government activities.”
He said, “there is a special account where I put N200 million every month, and the Accountant General of the State had reminded me of the money and I had told him to leave it untouched.
“Today, I want to announce that the money has risen to N10 billion. I tried to resist all temptations to make use of that money. But now we are going to use it to pay gratuities.”
On the establishment of a power generating plant in the State, Uzodinma, made reference to the first civilian governor of old Imo State, Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe who built the first independent power plant (IPP) in Nigeria to serve his people.
“I want to replicate that novel idea because I believe it is doable under me. My prayer is that before I leave here, Imo will get her own power generating plant,” he stated.
In his remarks, the birthday ‘celebrant’, Chief Anyaehie expressed surprise for the love the governor and his wife had shown him, adding that he was not privy of the celebration.
“I lack words to express myself, but I pray that God will continue to bestow wisdom and blessings to the governor. Therefore, I urge all Imo people to support his noble ideas to continue to better Imo State. Imo has changed for the better,” he said.
