Projects worth the sum of Five Billion, One Hundred and Three Million
(N5,1030000.00) are currently on-going across the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo state, Daily Nigerian Horn was told last week.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government and Chieftaincy
Affairs, Hon. Chief Mayor Chukwudi Eze, disclosed this to top media executives in Owerri.
According to Eze, N87 million was approved for each local government for the construction of stadium; another N87 million each for building of new secretariat while N15 million per LG for the purchase of brand new Hilux Van (Ford products) from Coscharis Motors.
He commended the Governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha for giving the LG Interim Management Committee chairmen free hands to run the activities of the councils;
and ensuring that all projects are done well.
“Recently, we have discovered the Emeka Ihedioha standard and that is an international best practices in everything. Before being a governor, he is identified with certain standard and he wants those standards replicated in the local government areas” Mayor Eze disclosed.
“This is made possible because the governor in his wisdom and experience has noticed that the local govt is indispensable in the development of any nation. That is why as we received the first allocation, the office monitors LGs. We aremonitoring the LGAs to make sure they that don’t abuse the good intention of the governor. Whoever embark on any project that is above the N500,000 approval limit without approval of this office (Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs) will be liable to certain consequences.
“Now every LG is building a stadium. The contract papers are here. The governor did something that is not common by telling the chairmen to go to their various local government areas and call leadership meeting and decide on who will be the
contractors.
“The contractor handling the stadium project will not be the contractor handling the secretariat project. This is to make sure that the contractors are held accountable. If the leaders nominate a bad contractor, the leaders will be held liable and responsible.
“I, Hon. Mayor Eze never participated in the processes that led into emergence of the contractors handling the projects in Orlu LGA. If you find out I played any role, let it be my resignation from this office. If the governor can find himself selfless to say let the right things to be done, he has the right and choice to nominate 54 contractors for the 54 projects in Imo state but he chose not to do so or intervene. “I want Imo people to know that this is governance at its highest and
best levels where power and governance is actually being taken to the people to begin take care of their affairs. If a contractor handling a secretariat project in Ngor Okpala for example fails, nobody will blame the chairman alone, it becomes a leadership thing. It then means the leaders of Ngor Okpala in approving such contractor, have failed the people of Ngor Okpala. This is a call for collective governance.
“The governor yesterday during our meeting with him reiterated the fact that a stadium project is not a project everyone knows.
He referred us to two sites. That there is a contractor, Mr. Ahanonu doing a project at Assumpta Cathedral Church, Owerri, we all went there and saw it. By mere looking at the job, we saw quality and efficiency at play. He told us to go and use that as a standard.
“So in doing all these things the governor has demonstrated a fact that he is not going to compromise standard.
“And before the meeting, he told me to inform the LG chairmen that all of them must come with a profile of their various contractors. And he took time to call on the various chairmen to defend the quality and caliber of the contractors doing the projects in their areas. They did. The 27 LG chairmen were in attendance.
I believe that it was is a right step in the right direction which by God’s grace it will be sustained.
“Imagine 54 projects going on in the nooks and crannies of Imo state. The governor said that from next month, every LG chairmen will commit N2miilioneach in buying seats in our schools. It is not enough to renovate or build a primary school when some of these children are sitting on the floor. This is another innovation.
Buying 39 vehicles, each LG I and the bureau is buying 12. The LGs and bureau, we all paid N8m each to Coscharis and this month we are paying the balance of N7m each. So between now and next week, we are going to take entire delivery of 39 vehicles. 12 that have arrived are in the Government House now under the Director of Transport for safe keeping.
“When you talk about governance, it is demonstrated. Governance should an open thing where everything is part of it and monitor it’s development and growth.
I’m impressed with the performances of the LG chairmen. We gave them guidelines that no body will spend outside the financial regulations given to them. So I can fairly predict after payment of salaries what every LG chairman has in his account. Because if I don’t give approval, you don’t have any right to tamper with
any fund.
“And it is a crime for any local government chairman to embark on borrowing.
Orlu LG has good secretariat, so they are building a befitting maternity hospital.
We want to make sure they are spending N87million each for each of the projects.
Having confidence in government is the most important thing.
The government must give a template for government to operate.
No contractor will fail in this agreement
Funds must be matched with projects
Whoever is the contractor must know that accountability is the watch word.
Transparency is the key.
The chairman cannot even deceive the contractors.”
NIGERIAN HORN
