Tunji Adedeji
Permanent Secretaries in the state have been charged to be pro-active and be diligent in the discharge of their duties by ensuring that all leakages in the civil service were plugged to enable the government meet up with its responsibilities to the people.
The Governor of Imo State, Chief Emeka Ihedioha who stated this during the Swearing-in of four Permanent Secretaries at the Sam Mbakwe Expanded Chambers Owerri, noted that his administration is focused on restoring public confidence in governance which had been eroded in the past few years. The Governor urged the Permanent Secretaries in the state to join him as he works speedily to rebuild the state by bracing up to their responsibilities, being conscious of the demands from government as well as the expectations of Imo people.
Chief Ihedioha stated that in Nigeria, Imo ranks top in human capacity, fifth in GDP but is among the least states in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which is worrisome. He pointed out that the correlation between the GDP and IGR does not tally and called on the Permanent Secretaries to bring to bear their wealth of experience to remedy the situation.
Governor Ihedioha expressed confidence that the state is moving in the right direction by acknowledging that the IGR of the state has risen from 241 million which was the figure when he assumed office to over 800 million by September.
The Governor reminded the newly sworn-in Permanent Secretaries that to whom much is given, much is expected stating “We expect you to take responsibility for the actions and inaction of your subordinating staff. We shall not accept the plea of ignorance on your part as all hands must be on deck on our cause to rebuild the state”
Responding, one of the newly sworn-in Permanent Secretaries, Dr. Anthony Igwe promised that they will brace up to the challenges facing them by bringing their wealth of experience into play.
The newly sworn-in Permanent Secretaries and their designated Ministries are:
Mrs. Perpetua Anyanwu (Local Government Service Commission), Mrs. Angela Iheanacho (Public Utilities), Barr. Obiageli Edith Amadiobi (Gender and Vulnerable Affairs) and Dr. Anthony Igwe (Health).
