Imo residents will, from November, start enjoying an uninterrupted 24-hour electricity power supply.

This will be a test run in Owerri metropolis and its environs.

Speaking at the weekend during a stakeholders/expanded state executive council meeting held at the Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu International Conference Centre (EIICC), Owerri, the governor, Hope Uzodimma, disclosed that in the subsequent months, other areas—Orlu, Okigwe, and Mbaise—would gradually experience the same. The Urashi Power Plant project, commissioned and empowered by the governor through the enabling law, will undertake the job.

He stated that individuals earning less than ?150,000 per month would be exempt from paying tax, noting that oil companies operating in the state would be responsible for implementing the policy.

Uzodimma informed that retirees and students would have access to free transportation on the Owerri to Okigwe, Orlu, Aba, Onitsha, and Port Harcourt routes, using the newly-procured Compressed Natural Gas (CNG-powered) metro buses.

He expressed the readiness of his administration to confront insecurity in the state.

On contract awards, he said 50 per cent of the payments had been made for the execution of ongoing contracts.

He also used the opportunity to inform his audience that he was not too keen to ask for refunds of funds spent on the federal roads his administration executed, expressing optimism that his successors would get such reimbursements, as his primary aim was to ensure people enjoyed them smoothly.

The governor emphasized the need to empower the younger generation politically, stressing, “We need a new generation of politicians to run the affairs of Imo State.” (The Guardian)