I Don’t Need More Than 200 Workers at The Civil Service of Imo State - Owelle Rochas

Governor Rochas Okorocha

The Executive governor of Imo state Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has stated that he does not need more than 200 workers in his state civil service.
The governor in an interview with Daily Independent in Owerri said that the huge wage bill of the state amounts to shortchanging generations unborn.

Okorocha said he would prefer to engage more people in the productive sectors of the economy like agriculture rather than maintain a bloated civil service.

He said: “I don’t need more than 200 workers at the civil service of Imo State but I need more than 100,000 in the agricultural sector of the state. It’s like if this nation makes $1 trillion every day and ends up paying salaries with it, there still will be no progress. “Unless we address those basic issues and get people to work in the productive sector of the economy, we cannot make any headway.”

Okorocha said that Imo state currently spends 70% of its total revenue, internally generated (IGR) and federal allocation on workers and pensions, while 30 percent goes for development.

He further explained that no civil service workforce requires more than a 1, 000 at most 2, 000 persons to run its affairs under the present technology driven world, lamenting that in most cases 12, 000 persons are in the civil service, with 80 percent of them doing nothing.

Meanwhile, the Imo state governor has concluded plans to establish the Rochas Foundation College in Bauchi state as a way of providing education to the poor and less privileged.

Okorocha said it was his mission to continue the furtherance of education in the country. The governor made this pledge at the ceremony marking part of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the creation of Imo state.