Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has begun to pay back the N17.6bn salary arrears that past administrations had owed state employees working in institutions.
According to an authoritative source close to the State Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, the institutions include: Abia State University Uturu, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Abia State College of Education, Technical Arochukwu, Abia State Teaching Hospital, Aba, and Health Management Board, Umuahia.
The list also includes additional state-owned universities, including the Secondary Education Management Board, the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, and the College of Health Sciences, Aba.
Kanu issued a statement stating that the Accountant General’s office has started paying arrears to verified workers totaling N17, 629,767,342,09 (Seventeen billion, six hundred and twenty-nine million, seven hundred and sixty-seven thousand, three hundred and forty-two, nine Kobo). The payment will be made over a 12-month period, with the first batch already disbursed to affected workers.
The Chief Press Secretary, CPS to the state governor, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, confirmed the information in a separate statement, noting that “Governor Alex Otti has paid the first tranche of the arrears of workers’ salaries owed by the immediate past administration.”.
“The governor has set aside N1.5 billion per month to gradually balance the N18 billion salary arrears over the next 12 months. Governor Otti is more satisfied with the loud jubilation and exhilaration of Abia workers than with the bitterness of those denied access to Statutory worker and retiree pensions”.
Mr. Mike Akpara, the previous Commissioner for Finance, stated in a press conference that the Abia State Government plans to offset salary arrears owed to staff of state-owned institutions of higher learning in tranches. He also stated that the state government will pay off salary arrears owed to some workers in the state civil service in batches.
“The Governor has established machinery to eliminate salary arrears. We will pay them in installments to avoid disrupting other sectors of the economy. The previous government owed Abia State Polytechnic 33 months, College of Education Arochukwu 22 months, Abia State University 11 months, and the Hospital”.
In addition to stating that the State Government has already paid the salary arrears for April and May owed to workers in ABSU, the Finance Commissioner had announced that payments to employees in state-owned educational institutions would start in July or August and would be completed by the end of the year.
The Commissioner emphasized the current administration’s commitment to completely changing the narrative of owing workers salaries and addressing the long-standing issue of unpaid wages.
Written by Jennifer Amarachi
