Uzodimma orders ISOPADEC boss to audit govt property

Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, has directed the Managing Director of Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, Chief Charles Orie, to take custody and carry out proper inventory of all official vehicles assigned to former political appointees.

The directive affects all former principal officers to the governor, all commissioners, all Special Advisers, and all General Managers of agencies of government among others.

The directive was contained in a press release signed by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Oguwuike Nwachukwu, and made available to South-East PUNCH on Tuesday.

Orie was further urged to ensure that no former political appointee, no matter how highly placed, would refuse to surrender his or her official vehicle.

Recall that on January 16, when Governor Uzodimma dissolved his expanded Executive Council, he directed that the commissioners should hand over their official vehicles to the Permanent Secretaries in their ministries, while the Special Advisers should submit their official vehicles to the Office of the Chief of Staff.

The release said that while some former political appointees complied with the directive, others were yet to do so, raising concern that they had ulterior motives.

The statement added, “Poised to ensure that government directives are respected by all and sundry, Uzodimma mandated Orie to use all means lawful to extract compliance from the former appointees.”