Imo State governor, Hope Uzodinma, has said he would henceforth donate his security vote in order to meet up with salary and pension payments, citing power generation as one of his priorities.
Receiving in his office the state’s Economic Development Initiative, led by Professor Maurice Iwu, former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman on Tuesday, the governor said he took the decision because of the paucity of funds issue before his administration.
According to him, his next plan will be to establish power and petrochemical plants to boost electricity supply in the state.
According to him, other plans to the review of the 2020 budget passed into law in order to address the current problems militating against development in the state.
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A press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Oguwike Nwachukwu, said: “Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has stated his vision to establish power and petrochemical plants to enable the state take advantage of the huge oil and gas deposits in the Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta axis.
“Governor Uzodinma noted that industrialisation cannot thrive when power is epileptic, assuring that a power plant is top on his agenda.
“Only the best brains shall be appointed to serve in my cabinet. Governor Uzodinma used the opportunity to announce the forfeiture of his security vote in view of paucity of funds and to ensure that workers and pensioners are paid promptly.
“We are reviewing the budget earlier passed by the state House of Assembly, with the view to streamlining it with current realities.
“The governor, for instance, further cited the building of 27 stadia across the 27 local government areas, saying the funds could have been applied more meaningfully to benefit the people.”
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