• Security officials seek sack of gov’s aideÂ
THE Imo State Government has stated plans to engage companies for a 26mw power project in the state to enable his administration actualise its industrialisation and employment policy just as the 330mw NIPP power project in Ohaji/Egbema will soon be ready, Governor Rochas Okorocha has said.
Speaking at the Government House, Owerri, on his recent trip to the United States as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s entourage, Okorocha disclosed that since his cabinet members and political appointees were relieved, he has been saving N100 million monthly, while over N2 billion is spent on workers’ pay every month.
He further disclosed that each doctor under the state’s employ earns about N1 million monthly while a nurse earns N350, 000, adding that some parastatals gulp much money without returning an equivalent.
Among them, he said, are the Water Board, Agricultural Development Project and state Directorate of Employment (SDE). However, the Imo State Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Hycinth Emele, has refuted the governor’s claim, stating that only the old Chief Medical Consultants earned N1 million.
According to him, new consultants earn N600 and newly employed doctors (House officers) earn N250,000, which he said are applicable nationwide.
Meanwhile, scores of security officials employed by Okorocha, on the platform of Imo Security Network and Community Watch, staged a street protest in the Owerri metropolis, ending at the Government House, where they demanded that the governor should sack his Seniour Special Assistant on Security, Okechukwu Okorocha.
The protesters, who were deployed to the 637 autonomous communities in the 27 local councils, accused him of privatising the outfit of inexperience. Leader of the group, Chigeche Mba Osuagwu, said the outfit would not work effectively until the man is sacked.
However, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, Government House, Ken Ejiogu, said the government had dialogued with leaders of the security men, and that the governor would resolve the matter. He commended them for conducting their protest peacefully, adding that they have been advised on what to do.
