Former governorship aspirant in the 2023 general election in All Progressive Congress (APC) Ebonyi State, Chief Elias Mbam, has expressed joy over Governor Francis Nwifuru’s achievements within his one year in office.
According to Mbam, the governor has done massively well in human empowerment, infrastructure, education, agriculture, and inclusive administration and, as such, deserves to be commended.
According to him, Gov. Nwifuru’s style of governance has united everyone, irrespective of political parties, which has brought back total peace in the state.
The former Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) disclosed this to journalists as Governor Nwifuru celebrates his one year in office.
Chief Mbam, however, urged the governor to embrace the spirit of monitoring all his projects to ensure quality after completion.
His words: “I strongly believe that the government is addressing the needs of the people. Indeed, I rate the administration of Governor Francis Nwifuru very high; he has done very well in many sectors.
“The Governor is running an inclusive administration; he has made every Ebonyian feel that he is part of his administration, irrespective of where you come from and your party.
“And so, it’s like the politics are gone, and now on governance, everybody is invited. That action has promoted peace, progress, and unity in the state.
“If you have a state function now, you will find out that leaders of different parties will be participating in the function, and they feel at home that nobody is discriminated against.
“The governor has done very well in so many areas. In human capital development, he has done tremendously well. I know there was a time when he gave out N1bn and empowered so many people who were hawkers in different towns in the country.
“Each of the beneficiaries was given N2 million, and the way he is managing the civil servants is superb. It is helping him implement his policies, and civil servants are happy with him.
“I know that during Christmas time, he gave out N100,000 to each of them, and he has given them salary awards and has been paying them an extra N20,000 in their monthly emoluments.
“He has also cleared pensions and gratuities for retired workers from 1996, when the state was created, to 2023.
“He has also done well in the areas of education. I know that he reduced the tuition fees of students at Ebonyi State University to encourage our people to go to school; he increased the salaries of academic staff and non-academic staff.
“And now, he has commenced the construction of 39 special model secondary schools across the state, 3 in each of the 13 local governments. He has also given scholarships to 1,000 graduates to go overseas for their postgraduate degrees.
“In the area of infrastructure, he constructed over 54 km of internal roads and 600 km of rural roads, which are ongoing right now.
“He has revitalised the fertiliser chemical plant, the hatchery company, and the pipe production company, and customers are already waiting to buy pipes there because the company has started production.
“In the health sector, he employed about 200 staff—doctors and para-medical staff—and equipped the 13 general hospitals across the state, bought ambulances for them, and he is paying doctors in the hospitals an extra N150,000.
“He bought vehicles for all the doctors. So, the governor has prepared the ground for other developments and progress in our dear state. So, that is how I see what he has done.
“I encourage the governor to improve greatly on monitoring those things he has put in place in the state. He has started some projects, and some of them are still in progress.
“He is undertaking to build an ICT university; he should ensure that that project is realised. He needs to monitor all his projects to ensure quality.
“He needs more experts to monitor and advise him on the progress of work. He needs to ensure that all these good ideas that he has started are completed successfully,” he said.
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