Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Ebonyi Governor, Dave Umahi, has approved the appointment of 513 additional aides to serve as his technical assistants (TA). The governor’ Principal Secretary, Chief Clement Nweke who announced this in Abakaliki yesterday, said the appointees were drawn from the 171 political wards in the state. The appointees, according to him, are to report to the office of the principal secretary with their credentials for documentation.
“Appointees from Abakaliki, Afikpo North, Afikpo South, Ebonyi and Ezza North Local Government Areas (LGA) are to report on Nov. 27. The ones from Ezza South, Ikwo, Izzi, Ohaozara are to report on November 28 while those from Ishielu, Ivo, Ohaukwu and Onicha LGAs are to report on November 29, 2019,” he stated.
The governor, during a meeting with top government officials in September, hinted that he would appoint 800 aides to add to the 4,000 already appointed.
Meanwhile, the governor has declared that there will be no salary for political office holders and civil servants who do not have Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).
He made the declaration when he received a delegation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the state, led by its Branch Controller, Mr Adayi Onah, in Abakaliki, yesterday.
The governor said that the measure would also affect those who provided incomplete and wrong BVN.
“Some of you that have not opened account for the first time in your lives will now open account.
“They said that Ebonyi is the least in account opening, it shouldn’t be, as all these money flowing everywhere should go in and out of banks.”
Earlier, Onah, the CBN Branch Controller said the financial access performance across the geo-politcal zones showed that South East zone has an average exclusion rate of 29.3 per cent.
“Out of this percentage, Ebonyi has 43.6 per cent which is above the national average of 36. 8 per cent and regional average of 29.3 per cent.
“States in the zone are recording an average of between 25.4 per cent and 28.7 per cent with Ebonyi still very far at 43.6 per cent exclusion rate.
“The state has therefore been selected in the south east zone for a pilot exercise for account opening starting from Dec.2 to Dec.7 in all the 13 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state,” he said.
Onah pointed out that aside the banks statutory role, it has been able to evolve business practices that incorporated sustainable development into its business model that have impacted positively on the social, economic and environmental factors of the people.