Emeka Ihedioha

Gov. Emeka Ihedioha of Imo says  rebuilding the state will be a very difficult task considering  infrastructural decay within eight years of Gov. Rochas Okorocha’s administration.

Ihedioha spoke in Owerri  on Wednesday shortly after he was sworn in as Governor by the state Chief Judge,  Justice Pascal Nnadi.

He described the eight years of Okorocha’s administration as a huge setback for Imo as he disregarded the rule of law and good governance.

Meanwhile, Okorocha was absent at the inauguration ceremony.

Ihedioha listed job creation, industrialisation, agriculture and healthcare as issues that would be on the priority list of his administration in the first 100 days.

He promised that his administration would offer free medical care for retirees and pregnant women and to restore public water supply.

He said he would  review all land allocations and Certificate of Occupancy which the  Okorocha administration approved hurriedly for his cronies and return them to their  original owners.

“Our citizens lost their lands to Okorocha’s government and I hold it as an obligation to the people of Imo to recover their lands,”  he said.

He said he would respect the rule of law and support financial autonomy for the judiciary and the local government system.

According to Ihedioha, Imo state government under Okorocha owes N57 billion pension arrears over 77 months.

He said Imo was financially insolvent and that it would  be difficult to meet all the challenges facing the state in a short period.

“We don’t have the magic wand to solve all the problems but with the support of all I will try to deliver good governance and run an  all-inclusive administration,” he said.

The governor said he would review the free education programme introduced by the past government and ensure that qualitative and more realistic system of education was achieved.

Ihedioha also promised to reform the civil service system to make the workers more productive and establish a facility management agency to care for government facilities.