By Nelson Ushafa
The governor of Benue state, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has said he has submitted the list of commissioner nominees to the Benue State House of Assembly, and it is the prerogative of the leadership of the house to make the list public.
The governor disclosed this on Saturday, August, 5th, 2023 while having a breakfast interface with the media in the state, at the Government House Makurdi.
Governor Alia, who was responding to a question on why he has not yet constituted the state's executive council, said he has since forwarded the list to the Assembly.
He said, although the Assembly is on recess, the leadership of the house has communicated to him a date that they will cut short their recess, to come back and screen the commissioner nominees.
He however, said he cannot usurp the powers of the Assembly to go public with the list, and the date for the commencement of the screening.
Highlighting some of the successes recorded so far by his administration, the governor said, so far, 2500 names of ghost workers have been removed from the payroll in the first phase of the screening exercise, saving the state over N1.2 billion, adding that there has been regular payment of workers and pensioners, ongoing renovation works of the Benue State House of Assembly complex, visitation of the IDP camps, with efforts being made by his government to return them to their ancestral homes, as well as the provision of fertilizer at a subsidized rate of 50% for the farmers in the state.
The governor disclosed further that, Benue state under him is also the first state in the country to implement the revised medical residency training fund (MRTF) 2023, at the revised rate, adding that his government is also constantly engaging the military and security agencies in curtailing attacks on our people.
He equally said his administration has put a stop on multiple levies, illegal check points and illegal taxations which were having a negative impact on the state economy, insisting that the improved monthly allowances for NYSC members serving in Benue will discourage the redeployment of corps members posted to the state, thereby becoming useful to the state, especially the medical doctors.
On the challenges, the governor said he expected rot in governance before he came in, but the magnitude he has seen is far more than what he expected, but he is doing his best to salvage the situation.
Photo credit: Oche King
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