The Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Nweze Umahi, has directed the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Bernard Odoh, to probe the circumstances that led to the death of the 10 Ebonyi youths in a motor accident at Ezzangbo on their way to the Court of Appeal in Enugu.
Governor Umahi who spoke at a thanksgiving service of the Government House Chapel in Abakaliki said: “Yesterday, I saw a situation that made me to almost shed tears. I saw youths were crying about the loss of 10 of our brothers and a sister. I felt so bad.
“Some of these are things we could avoid because this is a new dispensation where there is love, where there is unity, togetherness and orderliness in the land of Ebonyi.
“I want to assure the youth that I have directed the SSG to probe the death of those 10 young people and whoever that pushed them into that will have to pay for that.”
The governor, who attributed the success of his government to fervent prayers and the cordial relationship among the three tiers of government in the state, noted that the economic recession in the country could be overcome through prayers and trust in God.
He promised that despite the poor economic situation in the country, his administration was poised to fully implement the 2016 Budget estimate of the state.
Governor Umahi maintained that from henceforth, the government would embark on aggressive revenue generation to augment the poor federal allocation to the state.
Stressing that the state government may reconsider giving overhead to the ministries, Umahi said he would approve the usage of a certain percentage of the Internally Generated Revenue of each ministry as its overhead.
He said in view of the harsh economic situation facing the state, the fees of tertiary institutions in the state had not been reduced.
Students of the state university, according to him, were expected to continue to pay their tuition fees as at when due until the state’s economy improved.
Governor Umahi mandated the Commissioner for Works to, as a matter of urgency, take steps to reconstruct the three failed bridges in Izzi, Ivo and Afikpo South.
He restated the government’s policy on agriculture and appealed to the people of the state to release their lands for the programme.
Earlier in her sermon, the Chaplain of the Government House Chapel, Pastor Eunice Oyeyemi, said the people and the state government needed to be grateful to God for His mercy.
Oyeyemi said the transformation being noticed in the state under the leadership of Umahi was prayed for during the electioneering period.
Pastor Oyeyemi also enjoined all Ebonyians to see themselves as ambassadors of the state by always speaking good about the state. [myad]
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