Chief judge of Abia State,Justice Onuoha Arisa Kalu Ogwe has sworn in Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for a 2nd term in office to pilot the affairs of the state.
Governor Ikpeazu took his oath of office at the Umuahia Township stadium, few minutes after his deputy, Ude Okochukwu was sworn in.
In his address, Governor Ikpeazu promised to consolidate on the gains recorded by his administration in the last four years and cement his legacies in the annals of posterity as well as ensure the completion of all ongoing projects and creating avenues for the teeming youths to be gainfully employed and be self-sufficient.
In his words: “The primary focus of our administration for the next four years will be consolidating on the achievements of our first tenure, completing all our ongoing projects and creating avenues for our teeming youths to have jobs and be self-sufficient. We are poised to create over One Million jobs before our tenure is over. Our administration is a trans-generational one. We will meet the needs of today while ensuring we lay solid foundations for the tomorrow of our children.
“We will continue to run on our 5 Pillars of Development and their Enablers and they will remain our guiding principle for our policy formulations and plans going forward. Let me also pledge that we will complete all projects that we started before our tenure ends in addition to all the new projects we are determined to execute this 2nd term. We will touch places we are yet to touch and directly or indirectly, substantial communities in Abia State will feel the presence of our administration before the end of our 2nd tenure.
“Abia State has become a better corporate citizen in the comity of States. We are now respected and appreciated as the SME Capital of Nigeria and even beyond as we have taken our advocacy to other African and Western Countries and they have all taken note. The World bank is collaborating with Abia State in the area of Water, Sanitation and Rural Infrastructure. This added impetus will begin to yield fruits before the end of 2019 and our people will be better for it. Even in Foreign Direct Investments, Aba and Abia State is the new prime destination.
“We will prioritize aesthetic mordernisation of key landmarks in the city of Aba and Umuahia and improve on our environmental sanitation outlooks.
The Governor also used the opportunity to disclose that issues concerning workers salaries and emoluments will be addressed headlong adding that his government has devised a means to ensure the re-organization of under-performing parastatals and agencies that owe staff salaries.
“Beloved Abians, I acknowledge a number of challenges that have dogged us for some time now chiefly the issue of outstanding wages and other emoluments to certain categories of workers in Abia State.
“I want to assure you that we have taken steps to address the challenge head-on and it will soon be a thing of the past. I wish to commend the affected workers and pensioners for their patience so far and assure them that we are not unmindful of their pains while assuring them that a solution is imminent.
“We have also devised means to ensure that we re-organize under-performing parastatals and agencies that owe staff salaries. We need the cooperation of all citizens to place Abia State where it needs to be. Some difficult decisions will be taken in terms of security, civil service reforms and systemic reorganizations and I ask for the understanding of those who may be adversely affected by the fallout of some of our reforms”,he said.
Governor Ikpeazu while giving a review/progress report of his first term in office said his administration has performed creditably especially in the areas of Agriculture, Education, Infrastructure,Health industry and commerce,Security, Ease of Doing Business and Tax Reforms.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for looking beyond partisan political lines to give his full blessing to the Enyinmba Economic project adding that while 650,000 jobs will be created, 300,000 units of urban housing will be built. “1.5M people will live and work there, 2,000 industrial/business units will be established there and an annual value output of $5B will be realized in t
The governor also thanked Abians for the confidence reposed in him by reelecting him for a second term and pledged his readiness to do more to the service of this state.
“We have taken note of areas we fell short and ran an internal review of our processes with a view towards adjusting our systems to deliver better quality of service. We have noted areas we got it wrong and we are committed to make amends”,he said.
The Inauguration ceremony featured church service organized by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Abia State Chapter.
