By Ogenyi Ogenyi, Uyo
Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom has said that his administration inherited N93 Billion backlog of unpaid gratuities to civil servants from the administrations of former Governor Godswill Akpabio send Udom Emmanuel.
He has also said that his administration would commence the payment of the N80,000 minimum wage earlier announced, with effect from 1st November, 2024 as soon as ongoing verification exercise for civil servants is completed
Eno who made this known in his new year message to try people od the state on Wednesday however said he has been able to offset nearly N42 billion out of the amount which dated back to 2012.
The Governor commended the cooperation his administration has received from the Organized Labour and expressed hope of a more robust relationship.
He said his administration remained committed to it’s social and welfarist programmes aimed at making life more meaningful to the vulnerable and aged in the society while assisting the youths to be self reliant and increasing their business and enterprise capacity.
“We have built over 112 Arise Compassionate Homes for the vulnerable while work is ongoing on additional 62 units with a target to deliver 400 homes, at least one in all of the 368 wards in the state by the end of his first term.
“We will continue the payment of 50 Thousand Naira monthly to 600 Elders drawn from all the 368 wards in the state in our Arise Elders Care Initiative, our Arise Free Food Voucher programme administered by the Bulk Purchase Agency as a temporary intervention scheme will continue while we expect bountiful harvest in the new year.
“The first of the 15 thousand out of 60 thousand youths to be empowered with Arise youths business support scheme I had announced during my youth appreciation rally last September have been paid. We hope to continue with this process in the new year alongside other Business support schemes I had also rolled out during the rally.” He explained.
His administration, Eno said would continue to work with the Bank of Industry (BoI) to provide loans at single digits to traders and announced that he has committed two billion Naira as matching funds for this purpose.
“We have also converted the earlier two billion Naira loan given to our traders to grants same as the 200 million Naira each, to the traders from Arewa. Yoruba, Igbo and Niger Delta communities doing business in our state.” He stated.
The Governor said he would continue to build on the gains made by his predecessors in the transport sector.
“Our commitment to expanding and maintaining infrastructure has been upheld. Within 19 months of assuming office, we have undertaken 157 road projects across the 31 Local Government Areas. This includes roads inherited from the previous administrations, many of which have been completed and commissioned.
“We hope to commence operations at the Maintenance and Repair and Overhaul(MRO) facility this year as well as the International Terminal at the Victor Attah International airport. We will continue our strategic engagements with our partners towards the realization of the Ibom Deep Seaport.
“Seaport development is a long term investment and I urge our people to exercise patience as we work through the layers of processes to make this happen.” He said.
He urged indegenes and residents of the state to shun divisiveness and promised to run an all inclusive government.
“As we usher in the New Year, I enjoin us to remain united and shun politics of division and personal destruction. We are committed to running an inclusive government, and we have demonstrated this approach in the last eighteen months since we came in. Politics should not divide us or severe our bonds of kindredship.” The Governor concluded.
