Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, yesterday, inaugurated the Enugu State Security Trust Fund, saying it was in line with the administration’s campaign promise and efforts to build on successes achieved in the security of life and property in the state.
Although the enabling law was enacted in 2020, it was not activated, hence the Mbah administration initiated vital amendments to the law in 2023, and also executed a Deed of Trust to pave the way for the appointment and inauguration of a Board of Trustees (BoT) to bring the Trust Fund into full force.
The 11-member BoT of the Trust Fund is chaired by Ike Chioke, an Investment Banker and Group Managing Director of Afrinvest Trustees Limited, while Chinedu Anih was appointed the Executive Secretary.
Other members of the BoT are Nathaniel Udeh and Chris Ekemezie representing the private sector; Commissioner for Human Capital and Poverty Eradication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, and Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dame Ugochi Madueke, representing the state; and the State Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Theresa Egbunu, and the Garrison Commander, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Brig. Gen. Murtala Abu, representing the security organisations.
Others are ACP (Rtd.) Ifeanyi Nwafor; Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu representing the Chairman of Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, as well as the Anglican Bishop of Nike Diocese, Bishop Onyeka Onyia and the Vice Chancellor of the Godfrey Okoye University, Rev. Fr. Prof. Christian Aneke, representing the religious institutions.
Mbah, who commended them for accepting to serve the state with their wealth of experience and contacts, put the state’s projected security expenditure for 2024 at N20 billion, emphasising, however, that the government was counting on private sector support in that regard.
He said: “The Security Trust Fund is in line with what we have expressed in our manifesto when we were seeking the mandate of our people to serve them. We promised them that Enugu will be one of the top three states in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and, of course, we said it is going to happen from private sector investment; and attracting private sector investment requires that you have the enabling environment.”
