The Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, says the sit-at-home enforced by a faction of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South-East is causing the state to lose over N10 billion every Monday.
The governor made the announcement on Thursday in Enugu during a meeting with the Presidents-General (PGs) of the state’s autonomous communities.
He stated that the financial loss is incurred as a result of business operations that are prevented from taking place every Monday due to the illegal sit-at-home directive.
“It’s important for us to understand the connection between poverty and this so-called sit-at-home. Each Monday that we sit at home, we lose over N10bn naira from the economic activity that ought to have happened here in our state,” Mbah said.
“People who ordinarily would have stayed in a hotel till Monday before they travel will decide against staying beyond Sunday. So, what happens? The revenue the hoteliers would have generated is gone.
“People who would have come into Enugu to participate in one economic activity or the other won’t show up because you say you are sitting at home on Monday.”
According to him, the perception of insecurity the sit-at-home creates will derail his administration’s plan to move the economy of the state from a public sector-driven economy to a private sector-driven economy.
Governor Mbah has urged the PGs to speak to their people and make them understand that there is no such thing as a sit-at-home on Mondays or any other day.
He told them never to allow unelected persons to issue orders to them, adding that taking orders from such people would mean that someone was making them inferior without their consent.
Mbah assured the people that the security agencies had been put on alert to ensure that measures are in place to ensure the protection of lives and property in the state.