The newly appointed Benue State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Chief Solomon Iorpev, has promised to ensure that the fortunes of the Benue Printing and Publishing Corporation (BPPC) turn around for the better in order to enhance productivity.
Chief Iorpev stated this on Thursday while addressing management and staff of the corporation during his familiarisation visit to the organisation.
The Commissioner, who noted the important position the organisation occupies as the publisher of The Voice Newspaper, which he described as the mouthpiece of the State Government, expressed concern over the challenges being faced by staff of the organisation. He assured that he would do everything possible to ensure that those challenges are surmounted.
Iorpev further assured that the issue of non-issuance of Personal Sub-Head Numbers (PSNs) to staff will be addressed within the next few weeks.
He therefore commended management and staff for remaining steadfast and committed in the discharge of their duties despite the many challenges, and called for the sustenance of that commitment.
Speaking earlier, the Acting General Manager of BPPC, Mr. Samuel Atachin, expressed appreciation to the Commissioner for his visit, saying it would avail him the opportunity to have first-hand information about the organisation.
Speaking further, Mr. Atachin outlined the challenges being faced by management and staff in the daily running of the organisation. These include inadequate funds, non-issuance of PSNs to staff, non-conversion of casual staff, as well as the lack of office furniture and production consumables such as printers, plates, and newsprint, among others.
He also appealed for an increase in the monthly overhead allocation from five hundred thousand naira, which he described as grossly inadequate and which comes only three or four times in a year, to at least one million naira, and for it to be made more regular.
On the renaming of BPPC as the Dan Agbese Printing and Publishing Corporation (DAPPC) by the Executive Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, the Acting General Manager urged the state government to amend the law establishing the Corporation in order to give the process the required legal backing.
The Commissioner was accompanied during the visit by the Permanent Secretary, as well as Directors and other key officers of the ministry
