Politics
THE Enugu State House of Assembly Committee on Works has urged the council chairmen in the state to assist in monitoring state government projects cited in their various council areas.
The Committee Chairman, Mr Chima Obieze, made the call on Monday in Enugu when the committee visited Uzo-Uwani council area to supervise ongoing state projects.
Obieze urged the council chairmen to take measures that would ensure contractors perform according to specifications in the contract documents.
According to him, it is important to pay attention to the projects because when completed, each would belong to the council area where it was cited.
“All we are doing is to ensure that we do our best for the people who have entrusted their votes to us,” he said.
He said that the committee was performing its oversight in line with the constitutional mandate of the legislature.
He said that the constitution empowered the state legislature to oversight duties of the executives to ensure that what they had approved in the budget was what contractors were doing.
“This is the last of the 17 council areas of the state we have visited this year.
“We have found out that Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, out of his magnanimity, has cited many projects in all the local government areas.
“The governor wants to spread the dividend of democracy across the state.
“That is why we visited all the local governments and in each, we saw about five projects of the state government.
“We supervised the projects and where we feel that the contractors are not doing what the government asked them to do, we call them to order and also blacklist unrepentant ones,’’ he said.
The lawmaker further said that the committee discovered that the contractors were up to date in Uzo-Uwani and applauded the governor for carrying all the local governments along.
He commended the council chairmen for embarking on the projects, saying, it showed they were interested in the wellbeing of their people by complementing the governor’s efforts.
He said that the committee was interested in the synergy between the local government and the state to ensure there was growth and development at the grassroots level.
He listed state government projects in the area to include the construction of culvert, Magistrate’s court building, High Court building, registry and several road projects.
The Chairman, Uzo-Uwani counvil, Mr Fidelis Ani, thanked the committee for taking the trouble to visit the area, which is the farthest in the state.
Ani said that after the committee’s last visit, contractors handling state government roads at Army Barrack, Igbenajima in Nimbo, Iga to Ojo, expedited work on the road and ensured its completion.
He said that the oversight function was one of the major indexes that made the executives seat up to their responsibilities.
He also commended the governor’s effort on security in the area with the presence of military and police checkpoints.
“The military is stationed in Umulokpa, Nkpologwu and Nimbo area of the council because of the frequent attacks from herdsmen,’’ Ani said.
The council chairman further said that the council would emulate the governor’s development stride to develop the Adani-rice, among other produce. (NAN)
– Sept. 30, 2019 @ 14:55 GMT |
Tags: Enugu Assembly urges council chairmen to monitor projects
