The Imo State Executive Council has approved an estimated N474 billion appropriation for the 2023 fiscal year.
Rising from its weekly meeting, the council said Governor Hope Uzodimma would present the proposal to the Imo State House of Assembly for the lawmakers’ consideration.
Briefing newsmen on the outcome of the council’s deliberations, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Mbadiwe Emelumba, said the council also approved a proposal by the governor to empower 25,000 Imo indigenes on December 16 and 27,000 people a week after.
Emelumba also said the government was making efforts to ensure that night landing facilities at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport were installed before the Christmas.
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The idea, he added, was to enable residents coming from outside the country to land at the state’s airport instead of going through Port Harcourt airport.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved that all the expenses incurred on Imo Airport by the state government in terms of infrastructure provision and renovation be refunded.
However, Emelumba said the government noted with regret the attack on expatriates handling the road construction on the Owerri/Okigwe road and Owerri/Mbaise/Umuahia road, noting that the kidnappers were detractors who didn’t want the progress of Imo State.
The commissioner assured of government’s readiness to provide adequate security to all contractors.
