The Abia State Executive Council has approved #10,000 reduction of the Abia State University (ABSU) school fees for Abia indigenes in ABSU.
Also approved is the immediate relocation of the Faculties of Law and Humanities to Umuahia while Faculty of Engineering is to be relocated to Aba.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Strategy, Comrade Bonnie Iwuoha disclosed these while addressing journalists after this week’s EXCO meeting. The Commissioner informed that the reduction in school fees was to encourage poor and needy Abia indigenes to go to school, adding that each student from Abia would prove his identity by presentation of tax receipts of their parents or guardians and biometrics.
Comrade Iwuoha further said that in an effort to improve Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, in the State, government has withdrawn all previous approvals given to MDAs which permitted them to collect all forms of revenue, saying that, henceforth, all such money should be paid into the IGR account made available by the BIR.
According to the Information boss, rehabilitation of Umuahia water project is on and will, when completed, serve Umuahia North, Umuahia South and Ikwuano, while steps are on to restore water supply in Aba.
Also work has commenced in Ohambele, where 100,000 oil palm seedlings have been planted with hope that Abia will become one of the major producers of palm oil.
On education, the 1st phase of the free school meal programme has successfully been tested and the 2nd phase will take place when schools resume.
