Abia State House of Assembly has passed a resolution approving Governor Theodore Orji’s bid for a World Bank loan of $200 million as an alternative to the N30 billion Bond Bill which he had earlier accented to.
Honourable Chinedum Elechi, deputy speaker of the House announced this when he briefed the press in the conference hall of the Assembly, adding that the government decided on the option after the bill had suffered a setback.
According to the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) lawmaker representing Ukwa West State Constituency, the loan would be used for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and revitalising of moribund industries in the state.
The House Committee chairman on Information, Culture and Tourism also said a Supplementary Appropriation Bill of N6 billion by the governor which had gone through the first and second readings is before the House.
He added that along the same line, the assembly had given backing to the governor to obtain a loan of N.7 billion from commercial banks for the payment of arrears of teachers’ salaries and allowances before the end of the year.
Elechi said the assembly took the resolutions to keep the machinery of government moving, following what he described as drastic decline in the statutory allocation of the state due to the global economic meltdown.
The deputy speaker, who denied any suggestion that the House was about to impeach the governor as reported by a national daily, assured the governor of their unalloyed support and cooperation with the government.
Commenting on the reports of alleged sour relationship between the former Governor of the state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and Governor Orji Elechi said there are machinations of a group of faceless people with deadly intents.
He said as far as he is concerned, their relationship remains as friendly as ever, adding that if the contrary were the case it would have become apparent during their very recent public meeting in Abuja.
But in a swift reaction to the resolutions, Chief Ndidi Okereke, chairman of the state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the moves as a new dimension to further impoverish the people.
Speaking on the telephone, Okereke said it is most pathetic that an administration which has less than 20 months to go would want to commit the people to perpetual indebtedness through borrowing.
He described the decision as absurd and very condemnable in view of the problems the state has been facing over the years to settle its previous debts said to have been inherited from the old Imo State and during the military era.

Orji organises cancer awareness campaign

From Kalu Eziyi, Umuahia 
Mrs. Mercy Odochi Orji, wife of the Abia state Governor has urged women to utilise the knowledge they gained at a two-day Cancer Awareness Campaign and Prevention to educate the grassroots.
Mrs. Orji who was speaking at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia, the state capital during the closing ceremony of the campaign which was organized by her office  to train trainers in cancer treatment and management.  
Harping on the need for regular screening for cancer especially among women by qualified medical personnel, she advised people to be careful with their diets and to form the habit of regular exercise.
Mrs. Nwada Igwe, the commissioner for Women Affairs in her address during the opening ceremony regretted that some people attribute cancer to witchcraft rather than address it as a health malady.
She said her ministry is committed to partnering the office of the wife of the governor, and other intervention agencies in the health sector to achieve the objectives of the campaign which she said was timely.
Mr. Kwesi Ampa, one of the resource persons, while delivering his paper, expressed alarm over the rising cases of cancer in the developing countries and commended the wife of the governor for her initiatives.
In her own paper, Mrs. Ifeoma Okoye said everybody is prone to cancer, but that it could be averted by eating balanced diet and avoiding unhealthy living such as having multiple sex partners, lack of exercise and environmental factors.
Mrs. Bridget Nwosuocha, a participant who spoke at the end of the training said it afforded her the opportunity of having wider information on cancer and promised to pass the information onto other members of the society.