Governor David Umahi:

Ebonyi state government on Tuesday inaugurated a selection committee for 13,000 indigenes needed for the Federal Government (FGs) Special Public Works Programme.

Chief Edward Nkwegu, Chairman of Ebonyi Federal Government (FG) Extended Special Public Works Programme (ESPWP), at the event affirmed that 13,000 indigenes of Ebonyi would benefit from the programme slated to begin in October.

Nkwegu asked the ESPWP selection committee to ensure equity during the selection exercise billed to last for three weeks started on June 29.

He said that the setting up of the committee was in line with section 16(1) of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), law which empowered the Minister of Labour and Employment to do so.

According to him, only the minister upon the instruction of the President can stop the committee’s work.

Nkwegu noted that the 13,000 beneficiaries would spread across the 13 local government areas of the state where 1,000 persons would be drawn from each LGA.

He said that the programme approved by President Muhammadu Buhari was aimed at recruiting 1,000 itinerant, unskilled and skilled workers each in all the 774 LGAs in Nigeria.

“In Ebonyi, we will be recruiting 13,000 of our people for the programme and this number will include but not limited to supervisors and few skilled labours with respect to requests from ministry of Labour and Employment, other ministries, department and agencies.

“The beneficiaries will be engaged by the FG between October and December 2020 to carry out public works peculiar to each LGA.

“They will be engaged in areas including road rehabilitation, social housing construction, urban and rural sanitation, health extension and other critical social services.

“FG will spend N780 million in Ebonyi for the three months of the programme as each beneficiary will receive N20,000 each month for three months,” Nkwegu said.

He urged members of the committee to strive to make the programme a huge success in the state.

“You must therefore see this task as a serious, patriotic national assignment.

“This programme can rightly be described as one of President Buhari’s many ‘Star’ programmes for the lowly, weak and vulnerable people in our society, hence, we must treat it as such,” he added.

He directed committee members to reach out to their various LGAs to recruit eligible indigent and vulnerable Ebonyi people.

Meanwhile, Chief Martin Elechi, immediate past governor of the state, in a remark said that the programme was in recognition of the plight of the down-trodden by the President and his resolve to ameliorate their conditions.

“Buhari by this gesture is extending economic empowerment to the poor and vulnerable in the society,” Elechi said.

The former governor while congratulating members of the committee reminded them that their performances on the job would uplift them to greater assignments.

“Your activities will be monitored, recorded and recommendations will be made and if you perform well, this will only be an introduction to something else and so we are looking up to you to offer credible service,” he added.

Mrs Ann Agomeze, member of the committee, while thanking President Buhari for finding them worthy to serve said that the committee would ensure that only those targetted for the job would be recruited.

She said that the job was meant not for the well-to-do but for the poor, vulnerables and those  who actually did the voting but we’re unfortunately forgotten.

She noted that Buhari had deemed it fit that these set of Nigerians would no longer be forgotten.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the committee is made up of 23 members.

Chief Henry Ude will serve as Vice Chairman, Marcel Okafor will serve as Secretary while three traditional rulers from the three senatorial zones were selected to represent Traditional Rulers Council on the selection committee.