Tag: Ebonyi

The Ebonyi State House of Assembly  has approved the purchase of aircraft by the state government.

This followed a request letter from Governor Francis Nwifuru which was read during its plenary by Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Moses Odunwa.

The Speaker highlighted the importance of floating fully state-owned airlines in ensuring maximal operations at the airport.

This he said would lead to the smooth takeoff of the Chuba Okadigbo International Airport, Onueke in Ezza South local Government Area of the State.

The leader of the House and member representing Afikpo North West State Constituency, Kingsley Ikoro motioned for the approval.

He noted that with the airport in operation, it will not be proper if the state does not have any aircraft but only await the services of aircrafts from other parts of the country.

The member representing, Izzi East Constituency, Goodluck Mbam seconded the motion.

He described the Governor’s request as a wise decision that would not only boost the operations of the airport but as well generate more revenue to the state.

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The House also approved the revenue recovery from utility infrastructure, telecom tax within Ebonyi State and a proposal from the state government to secure a contract finance facility.

Also approved was the request by the state government for the engagement of Boards Ltd as a consultant to Ebonyi State government on NG-CARE Programme.

The lawmakers maintained that for the engagement of Quintix Consultancy Services, Ebonyi State stands the chance to maximise the revenue recovery from telecom taxes within the state.

The Speaker explained that the NG-Cares Programme in the state has performed below capacity as a World Bank Assisted Federal Government Programme, saying there is an urgent need to engage a consultant to make it viable.

After the debate, members unanimously adopted the requests from Governor Nwifuru on their importance and benefits through voice votes.

Subsequent upon the passage, the Speaker directed the Clerk of the House, Mrs. Uche Edene to write a memo conveying the approval of the House to the governor.

Ebonyi State Government is to empower 1,300 youths with N1m each to support them in growing their businesses.

One hundred youths will be selected from each of the 13 Local Government Areas to benefit from the empowerment.

Governor Francis Nwifuru states this at the weekend at Umuogudu Akpu Ngbo, Ohaukwu local government area.

He spoke at the Empowerment and Account of stewardship by Eze Nwachukwu Eze, the Member Representing Ebonyi/Ohaukwu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Monday Uzor said the Governor explained that the gesture is to appreciate the Youths for heeding his advice to refrain from the ongoing protest in some parts of the country.

Read Also: Nwifuru hails Ebonyi youths for embracing peace

He said: “Our youths have shown they are highly responsible and exceptional by accepting my appeal not to join the protest in the interest of the State. I am indebted to them and I promise you I will continue to assist you to harness your potential’ . The Governor assured.

The Governor told the people that the 24km Umuoguduosha- NIGERCEM Road has been awarded adding that the road was awarded to two contractors to ensure speedy completion within 18 months.

He commended the Lawmaker for attracting Federal projects to his constituents inline with his electoral promises to his people.

While giving account of his stewardship , Nwachukwu said he attracted a billion naira 3km asphalt road; built.numerous boreholes, installed solar- powered street lights ; classroom blocks and resolved the age-long Ngbo Agila Crisis etc.

The Governor on arrival commissioned Pentecostal Foundation Hospital built by Sen. Anthony Agbo and 3km road attracted by Nwachukwu.

Various constituents were given various empowerment materials which includes cash, cars, motorcycles, sewing machines etc. Ends

Ebonyi State Executive Council has approved over N5bn for social development projects in rural communities and the empowerment of petty traders in the state.

The government also approved N450milluon as consultancy services and designing of a Boulevard in the state.

Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in the state, Jude Okpor disclosed this to newsmen in Abakaliki the state capital.

He noted that the council also approved the revamping of moribund rice-mills in the three senatorial zones of the state and directed the release of the sum of ten million naira each in the three rice mill clusters  for the revamping.

Okpor said: “Following earlier approval of the design for the Nnodo Ekumenyi  Boulevard, the Council approved the sum of Four Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N450,000,000) only for both the design and consultancy services.

“In a related development, the sum of Seventy Million Naira (N70,000,000) for the redesign of the Trade Centre was also approved for release by the council. This sum also covers consultancy services for the project.

Read Also: Ebonyi adopts result framework, reporting template for OGP

“Sequel to a joint memo by the Honourable Commissioners for Human Capital Development, Commerce and Industry, and Agriculture and Natural Resources, EXCO resolved and approved the following: 

“Two Billion, Six Hundred and Twenty Million Naira (N2,620,000,000) for Ebonyi State Community and Social Development Agency (EBCSDA) to embark on social development projects in 100 communities that are yet to benefit from the Agency’s intervention across the state. The Agency was also mandated to pay the Labour-Intensive workers across the 13 LGAS.

“N500 million naira to Ebonyi State Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (EBSMEDA) for the Empowerment of 10,000 Ebonyians.

“N2.12B approved for Empowerment of farmers through FADAMA and other projects, to boost agricultural production in the state, especially in this farming season”.

The USAID State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity workshop on Open Government Partnership has ended with participants drafting and adopting a standard result framework and reporting template for the tracking, documentation and reporting of Open Government Partnership (OGP) State Action Plan (SAP) in Ebonyi State.

This is as they called for enhanced collaboration from government and Civil Society Organisations to achieve the objectives of the programme.

The workshop which held at Nike Lake Resorts Enugu was to develop tools that will facilitate the effective implementation of the Open Government Partnership State Action Plan.

It was also aimed at upgrading participants knowledge on proper documentation of results and achievements recorded during the implementation process with the use of the OGP standard reporting template.

In an address, Principal Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government, Mathias Adum noted that Ebonyi State signed-into the programme in 2017 but was not successful within the first 2 years, but was revived in 2022 with support from USAID State2State.

Adum, who is the Co – chairman of OGP in the state representing the government side, said the state government has been doing everything possible to support the effective and successful implementation of OGO in the State.

Represented by Mr. Mathias Erueke, Mr Adum said that in as much as there is need for improvement in budget implementation, Ebonyi State has made headway in conflict resolutions and an adequate crises management among others.

The OGP co- chairman from civil society organisations, Mr. Ajah Chima represented by Mr. Anele Okoroagha
lauded the revitalization of the Open Government Partnership by State2State and expressed hope that it will work according to the planned schedules.

The Gender and Social Inclusion(GESI) Specialist and the Focal person of OGP for State2State, Ejiro Okotie called for mainstreaming of GESI in the development of the result framework with specific indicators in the targets to track GESI in the OGP implementation.

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Mr Uchenna Arisukwu from the National Secretariat of OGP described it as a policy approach to government reforms that will help to build a culture of transparency, civil participation and accountability which will increase confidence in governance and strengthen the social contract.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist from the OGP National Secretariat, Mr Mooreino Diftuffe presented the modalities for developing the result framework and setting key performance indicators baseline and targets.

He said they are essential in the delivery of government projects and programmes.

The Technical Working Groups (TWGs) in the four thematic groups worked together using the State Action Plan (SAP) to develop their Result Framework.

After the group work, various groups from different thematic areas presented their results framework with feedback received and effected.

Dr Uto Moses Onwe of Fiscal Transparency Group moved motion for the validation and adoption of the draft result framework and reporting template, seconded by Mrs. Lorrieth Nwafor of Access to Information Technical Working Group after which it was unanimously affirmed by the the participants.

The State Team Lead of USAID State2State, Dr Sam Onyia thanked the participants for painstakingly going through the development of the Result Framework and Report template which will be useful for OGP implementation in Ebonyi state.

He expressed the hope that OGP will continue to succeed and the achievements become more visible beyond the state to the OGP National and Global stage. Ends

Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Moses Odunwa has reiterated the commitment of the Assembly towards ensuring total compliance with budget proposals in the state.

He also noted that the state in the last review by the Fiscal Transparency League Table in Quarter 1 of 2024 came 5th in the rankings in Nigeria.

The speaker said he would enable the budget to meet up with the People’s Charter of Needs Mantra of the state governor, Francis Nwifuru, and increase the ranking of the state.

He made the declaration at the quarterly Budget Performance hearing between the Ebonyi State House of Assembly and some relevant stakeholders like Civil Society Organisation and other Agencies

The hearing was held with the support of USAID State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (STATE2STATE) Activity at the Nike Lake Resort, Enugu.

In attendance were key ministries including Ministries of Education, Health and Water Resources, Finance, Budget and Planning.

The speaker directed that all House Committees on the priority sectors including Public Accounts should liaise with all relevant bodies and authorities to identify and close all gaps in budget implementation in the state.

Odunwa commended USAID State2State for its activities in Ebonyi State which he said has greatly improved and impacted positively on both budget preparation and implementation in the state.

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The Ebonyi State Team Lead of USAID State2State, Dr. Sam Onyia noted that the programme was to review the performances of the budget, discuss the outcome and make recommendations for an improved budget implementation in Ebonyi State.

In a paper presentation on Ebonyi state Quarter 1 2024 Budget Performance on Priority sectors, the USAID State2State Citizens Engagement and Capacity Building Specialist and Facilitator of the programme, Munachiso Odulana,  said that the review will enable the state government and stakeholders to monitor the allocation and utilisation of financial resources across the sectors and government entities.

The USAID local government manager, Mrs Victoria Eze while speaking on resolutions from the last quarterly review said that more is needed to be done as it was observed that there were some sub-standard projects executed, vandalization of educational structures, inadequate number of teachers and the need to have Primary Healthcare under one roof.

The Deputy Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Chinedu Onah in a closing remarks, extolled the USAID State2State for making stakeholders in the priority sectors sit up to their responsibilities.

He assured that members of the State House of Assembly will make use of what they have learnt to bring about changes in the state budget implementation.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) State Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness Activity (State2State) Nigeria and Ebonyi State Government have drafted and validated a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) document for Area Information Officers (AIOs) and Public Relations Officers (PROs) to enhance professionalism.

 The SOP document which was drafted in February 2024 during a 3 Day workshop organized by the Agency was validated by the State Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr. Jude Okpor during a 2 day workshop held in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

 Validating the document, Mr. Okpor represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Mr. Egwu Anya Nkama said that the document would help the Public Relations Officers PROs in the ministries and the Area information Officers AIOs to ensure professionalism, efficiency and competence in the discharge of their duties.

Mr. Nkama noted that the document will be represented to the State Governor, Francis Nwifuru for adoption as a standard operation document for all ministries in the State.

 He said this will enhance transparency and citizens’ participation in the activities of the State Government in line with the State Governor’s, People’s Charter of Needs mantra.

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He commended the agency for the efforts in fostering an environment conducive to the professional development of the Ministry of Information’s officers.

He noted that the document will help the State to ensure efficiency in information dissemination, management and feedback mechanism.

 Addressing the participants during the validation, the Communications Specialist of the Agency, Mrs. Nneka Acholonu Egbuna said that the validation workshop is aimed at completing all the processes and procedures of the document for onward transmission to the State Government.

 She noted that part of the activities of State2State is to ensure efficient and effective information dissemination adding that with the SOP document, most of the challenges confronting the PROs and the AIOs in the past will be eliminated.

A student of Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike(AE-FUNAI), Maxwell Okeke has been abducted and killed by some members of the host community.

According to sources, the student was involved in a minor bicycle accident on his way to hostel from school.

He was seen engaged in some discussion with some youths and victims of the accident after which he was seen leaving with them to an unknown destination. 

A student of the school, told The Nation that the university community became worried after he was not seen again. 

“He only dodged an oncoming bike and the Ikwo guys got injured because he dodged being hit by the bike. So the guys were requesting for treatment he followed them, since then he has not been found,” he said. 

The source said his decomposing body was later found near a river in the community.

“The latest development is that the guy is dead. His decomposed body was found by a river side and one of my coursemates who is a close friend to the deceased went to confirm if he is actually the one by the clothes he wore the last time they saw before the abduction took place. So he said the missing guy is actually dead”, the source said.

The University Management in a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Elom Iyke Ubochi confirmed the abduction and killing of Okeke.

“It is with great concern that we inform the university community of the abduction of Magnus Okeke, an extra year student of the Department of Accountancy on June 1, 2024. 

“The incident occurred outside the university campus while on his way back to the private hostel where he resides at Ohankwu village, Ndufu-Alike Community”, Elom said.

He noted that since the incident, the University Management through its Directorate of Security Affairs has been working closely with the police and other security agencies to ensure his safe rescue from his captors.

He noted that preliminary reports from security agencies shows that the alleged perpetrators of the heinous crime were criminal youth elements from Ohankwu village led by one Ogobuchi Uhuo popularly known as OG Royal.

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“The security agencies have apprehended some of those alleged to be  involved in the abduction of Magnus, and did everything possible to rescue him alive”.

“Unfortunately, on Monday, 17th June, 2024, the decomposing body of Magnus was painfully recovered under the bridge of Ako stream at Nwakpu village, along Ikwo/Abakaliki road,” he said

The university management urged anyone with useful information that could aid in the investigation to come forward and assist the authorities.

Police spokesperson, Joshua Ukandu confirmed the death of the student.

“His body has been recovered and taken to the mortuary while the command has launched an investigation to unravel the death with a view to arresting prosecuting his killers,” he said.