Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma on Thursday accented two executive bills into law, a bill on electricity and another to amend Imo State Polytechnic Law No. 15 of 2012 to pave the way for the merger of campuses of the polytechnic.
The governor said signing the two bills into law became necessary to position Imo State on the path of sustainable development.
He said that poor electricity generation and distribution have taken the shine off the development indices in Imo State and should not be allowed to continue.
Governor Uzodimma therefore hinted that he had approached President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to allow the Imo State government to take over the Egbema Power Plant, a federal government project conceived under the Niger Delta Power Holding Company and abandoned in 2006.
He said the President has graciously granted his request to take over the Egbema Power Plant, rehabilitate the facilities therein and rely on the same to solve the electricity challenges of the state in line with the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
The governor said he had visited the site with some experts, technical partners and officials of government to assess the level of decay on ground which will run into millions of dollars and that the technical partners and the experts had also visited the 27 local government areas of Imo State to look at the connectivity aspect of the communities to the plant in question.
The governor said he is optimistic that in 12 months, Imo State’s story concerning effective power generation, supply and consumption will be different.
On the bill to amend the existing Imo State Polytechnic Law No. 15 of 2012 to pave the way for the merger of campuses, Governor Uzodimma said that the state is already spending so much hosting the highest number of higher institutions in the country.
The governor said the Imo State Polytechnic Amendment Bill, which has reversed the multi-campus system to a mono-campus system, will impact more positively on the students, their sponsors, and the government in all ramifications, particularly in terms of the protection of the lives of the students and their teachers.
Presenting the bills for assent, the Speaker, Chike Olemgbe, said that they went through the rigours and scrutiny of the Imo State House of Assembly and that “the electricity distribution and transmission bill makes provision for improved power supply as well as sure-up distribution to our communities.”