The Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has explained why his administration is executing the “most austere” government ever in the history of the state.
He says he has not taken any salary from the state since assuming office as governor two years ago.
He also said his wife does not have an official car as the first lady of Anambra State but still drives his personal cars.
The governor said this during the celebration of the second anniversary of his administration, held at the International Convention Center, Awka, the state capital, on Sunday.
Soludo said he is deliberately executing the most austere government ever by cutting costs and not borrowing for the last two years.
“Any governor that comes floods you with offers for borrowing and so on and so forth, but we decided for the first two years to demonstrate something — capacity to do more with less.
“And so far as has been said, for two years, despite receiving about 25 per cent in real terms or in dollar terms of what was in the past, we have chosen deliberately not to borrow.
“I have been asked several times, ‘How do you do without borrowing and with the difficult circumstances?’ And my answer is that we are doing so because we are executing the most austere measure government ever.
“As I speak to you, I am not taking any salary, I am not paid any salary by Anambra State Government.
“Even the First Lady of Anambra doesn’t have any official car; she still drives my personal vehicles,” Soludo said.
The governor said that his decision to cut waste and cost of governance is to direct resources and prioritise them to things that are important to the people of the state.
He said his administration has prioritised areas that had been neglected in the past [such as] building hospitals, roads, schools and others in places that such amenities had never reached.
Soludo assured the people of Anambra that any kobo entrusted in his care as the governor will be accounted for, saying that if he ever borrows, the people will be shown the projects the loan was used for and how those projects would repay the loan.
The celebration of Soludo’s second anniversary was marked with the Pontifical Mass of Thanksgiving led by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Most Rev. Jonas-Benson Okoye and the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Awka, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor.
