Imo State Head of Service(HOS), TPL Barr. Raymond Ucheoma has debunked the news making the rounds that he distorted the rice palliative formula approved by the governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma when he civil servants at the State Secretariat last Wednesday.
Some workers had alleged that the governor had promised to give senior civil servants one bag of rice each; those following them half
a bag each; while the junior ones would collect 10kg bag of rice each as palliative to cushion the effect of the current economic hardship.
But in a swift reaction, the Head of Service (HOS), TPL.
Barr. Raymond Ucheoma debunked the allegation, saying that it was the handiwork of mischief makers whose target was to rubbish him and the governor, especially the governor by portraying him as ” a man that speaks from both sides of his mouth”.
Barr. Ucheoma went further to say that he had in his possession lists of all government establishments in the state, with their norminal rolls and the official number of rice and groundnut oil to be given to them as approved by the governor, and could not in anyway go against the governor’s palliative formular as claimed by some people, adding that he was the closest person to governor on the day he was addressing the civil servants and the person that heard his palliative promise well.
He said that what the people had succeeded in doing was report him to the governor by putting up the allegation in the newspapers but that as long as he did not go against the governor’s wish, it would amount to nothing.
He also disclosed that there were some establishments which were not carried along in the past palliative exercises but were being carried along presently due to the governor’s magnanimity.
Ucheoma advised people to stop engaging in “pull him down syndrome” or “character assassination” but should always praise somebody when need be, adding that the bags of rice meant for civil servants were being protected by security personnel and that he never at anytime took them away or converted them into personal property to be sold by him later as he was too big for that, having paid his dues in the civil service.
