Abia State Government has announced its intentions to allocate the two billion naira palliative loan received from the Federal Government, to bolster the transportation sector.
This decision was disclosed by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu during a press briefing following the Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti.
Prince Kanu stated that the decision is aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the federal government’s removal of fuel subsidy and added that the move would make it more convenient for residents of Abia to travel within the state.
He assured that further details regarding the loan’s utilization would be unveiled soon.
Prince Kanu who noted that the state is currently engaged in the distribution of rice provided by the federal government as part of palliative measures said; “I can confirm that this process has been successful across various local government areas of the state”.
The Commissioner while reassuring Abians of the state government’s comittment to the well-being of ordinary Abians, emphasized that the distribution of palliatives will be integrated into the state’s governance framework, extending beyond rice distribution.
“I want to reassure our people that the state government is thinking about the ordinary Abians. When we finish dealing with Federal government aspect of pallatives, we will focus on our own.
“Pallatives is not a one off thing, it is something that the government will imbed in the general framework of governance in the state. It is something that would go on overtime. It won’t just end with the distribution is rice”, Prince Kanu further reassured.
He emphasized that the free medical services initiated by the present administration would continue till December and added that enumeration of pensioners for the free health insurance scheme is almost completed.
Prince Kanu underlined that Governor Otti’s administration, though not celebrating its 100 days in office, has declared a state of emergency in various sectors including waste management, health, road infrastructure, education, security, and public service reforms.
He also noted that the state government is set to commission five roads in Aba, including Umuimo, Emelogu, Jubilee, Cemetery, Shallom, in addition to the 1.2 kilometer Obehe road, constructed by the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC).
Contributing,the Special Adviser to the Governor on Policies and Interventions, Rev. Father Christian Anokwuru, revealed that the State had received additional 16,800 bags of rice from the Federal Government.
Rev Anokwuru explained that each ward is set to receive 90 bags, with 55 bags already distributed to each of the 184 wards, while the remaining 35 bags will be delivered before the end of the week.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo, who noted that three general hospitals undergoing renovations have been completed and would soon be commissioned, said medical doctors have been deployed to Ugwunagbo, Obehie General hospitals, and other health facilities to provide care to patients, and added that the Abia State Specialist Hospital and Diagnostics Centre Umuahia have been repositioned to better serve the people of Abia.
On her part, the Accountant General of the State, Dr. Njum Onyemenam, affirmed the state’s commitment to ensuring timely payment of salaries to all genuine workers.
Njum who while addressing issues related to those previously on secondment, said problems of omission and name duplication and other complaints regarding salaries payment would be sorted out soon.
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