The Imo State government has recovered two major defunct state-owned factories which was formerly sold out to the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC).
In line with the total industrialisation programme of the present administration, the Resin Paints Industry in Aboh Mbaise and Paper Packaging Industry Limited in Owerre-Mbieri were recuperated after many years for non-productivity.
The State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, made the disclosure during the handing over ceremony at the Imo Trade Investment Centre in Owerri, the Imo State capital, South-East Nigeria.
Governor Okorocha stressed that the government was able to recover the two factories, which remains one of the greatest legacies of the late Governor Sam Mbakwe’s administration, from the NDIC at the verge of selling it out to prospective buyers.
A representative of the NDIC, Obaji Obaji, clearly stated that the Imo State government has completed all the transactions and done all the needful, as the two factories now fully belong to the Imo State government.
The Chairman of the Imo State Trade Investment Committee, Mr Rex Anunobi, and the state’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Industry and Non-formal Sector, John Uzoma, commended Governor Okorocha for achieving this laudable feat.
However, Governor Okorocha expressed hope that the recovery would generate massive employment for youths in the state and also increase the state’s internally generated revenue when full operations begins in the factories.
He also debunked allegations that he sold any government property since his tenure as the Governor, adding that he had revived and rehabilitated all abandoned and moribund projects by his predecessors.
The Governor reaffirmed that his administration is more determined than ever to open Imo State to the rest of the world through the industrialisation programmes and policies.
He urged the people of the state to support the government in its industrialization plan and also take advantage of these new factories to generate more revenue for the state.