By NewsCritic Reporters
Abia State government has inaugurated various Monitoring Team/Taskforce under the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in a bid to plug leakages and shore up the Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, of the state.
The inauguration ceremony which took place Wednesday 11th, October 2023 at the Women Development Centre Ogurube Layout Umuahia, was performed by the Commissioner Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals Resources, Professor Ogbonna F. Joel, with other top government functionaries in attendance, including the Special Adviser to the governor on IGR and Media.
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals Resources Prof Ogbonna said that government decided to set up the monitoring teams to ensure that the right things are done, adding that the administration of Gov Alex Otti is not going to tolerate illegality in the New Abia.
Said the commissioner “I want to tell you it is a thing of pride for you to be considered for this assignment. So, whatever it will take to ensure that you don’t soil your name, because we carefully selected the members of this team and will give you target. At the end we reward you for what you have achieved but know it that we are not going to support illegality in the New Abia. People are looking up to Gov Otti to secure our future and people are willing to identify with us, said Prof Ogbonna.
On his part the special adviser to the Governor on IGR said the idea is to partner with the monitoring team to shore up the revenue of the state, adding that the government needs money to work.
The head of the taskforce on Bunkering and Pipeline Vandalization, Frank Moses while giving the vote of thanks on behalf of the Taskforce members, thanked Gov Otti for the opportunity given to them to serve under his administration.
“I want to assure you that we are not going to disappoint, we will make Abia, the govt, ministry proud. We are going to work in line with the philosophy of the New Abia. We know that this is a responsibility and we are challenged to work for the interest of the state without fear or favour, he concludes.
Some of the taskforce monitoring team inaugurated were Solid Minerals Taskforce Team for Aba and Umuahia Zone, Petroleum Monitoring Team, Bunkering and Pipeline Vandalization Monitoring team among others.
