The Imo State Government has disclosed that it will revoke all lands illegally acquired by individuals or organisations in the state.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, stated this at a media briefing after the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting in Owerri.
He said the council, presided over by Governor Hope Uzodinma, resolved and directed that in view of the discrepancies uncovered in land acquisition, the Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Physical Planning, Enyinnaya Onuegbu, should revoke all such illegally acquired lands from who acquired them.
It also directed the Commissioner for Education, Professor B. T. O. Ikegwuoha, to query the Vice Chancellor, Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, Professor Adaobi Obasi, over the institution’s failure to pay February and March salaries.
He explained that in spite of subventions released to it, including revenue from fees, Obasi failed to pay salaries, directing that the company responsible for the collections, Tennesy, should stop collecting fees on behalf of IMSU.
In the same vein, the council comprising Governor Uzodimma and the commissioners resolved to engage all stakeholders in taking critical decisions on the state’s education sector.
The council would engage stakeholders including parents, wards and proprietors of private schools on safe reopening of schools in compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines.
Accompanied by Onuegbu and Commissioner for Transport, Rex Anunobi, Emelumba added that the council commended Governor Uzodinma for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) he signed with Julius Berger Nigeria PLC to rehabilitate the Owerri-Orlu and Owerri-Okigwe roads.
It equally commended Uzodinma’s administration for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Federal Secretariat, Aladinma Housing Internal, Lake Nwaebere-Umuchima Street, and Chukwuma Nwaoha roads, among others.
Continuing, he said the council commended the administration for demolishing the tunnel at the House of Assembly on Port Harcourt Road Junction, which has been a threat to life and property of Imo people, describing it as “a right step in the right direction.”
On efforts to contain the coronavirus, he pointed out that the laboratory in the state had capacity to test over 50 samples of COVID-19 daily.
Emelumba added that the SEC insisted that workers without Bank Verification Number (BVN) issues had been paid up to June, insisting that a report of the visitation panel to IMSU uncovered monumental fraud in the institution and that government would soon its position known on the matter.
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