By okey alozie
Uneasy calm pervades the Imo State Secretariat in Owerri Port Harcourt Road as Civil Servants grumble over the alleged N3.5m said to have been handed over to ranking Civil Servants for the on going rehabilitation of the complex
As part of the strategies adopted to save cost and minimize wastage of resource through contracts, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Governor of Imo State has shifted base to direct labour processes instead of contracts to renovate the complex houses state ministries to permanent secretaries in the state.
Our reporter who visited all the ministries at the state secretariat complex hinted that almost all offices at various ministries are undergoing rehabilitation, courtesy of the state government who doled out the said amount to the perm secs.
It was further gathered that each Perm Sec allegedly received N3.5m to do his or her own job effectively without much interference or supervision from the executive arm.
The rehabilitation work which started last week as we gathered has paralyzed activities at the secretariat complex with workers loitering the premises.
Further investigation revealed that other senior officer of the ministries were also given different kinds of jobs to handle in contract manner which includes painting, clearing of grasses and gutter. Feelers indicated that serving commissioners were not allowed to take part in handling any of these contracts which further heightened tension in the ministries.
The crux of the matter that is generating controversy is that some Perm Secs without offices or jobs to execute and spend their allocation may have pocketed the said N3.5m and failed to undertake any repairs. Junior staffers and other categories of workers who missed out from the government largesse felt Okorocha misfired by considering the top echelon to given money when certain statutory entitlements have not been paid and some parasatatals under funded.
Majority of the state workforce feel that the N3.5m to each of the Perm Secs in another ploy to secure the partnership and support of the hierarchy of the civil servants in the state who have been grumbling over the manner Okorocha government has been handling their welfare.
The workers who spoke in strict confidence noted that the governor’s new method is aimed at warming himself into the hearts of workers ahead 2015 election where he is reported to be eyeing a second tenure.
