Abia governor to increase workers minimum wage

Governor Alex Otti has concluded plans to increase the salaries of the Abia State workforce.

Otti disclosed this in Umuahia on Friday night during a media parley with journalists, stating that he is engaging with stakeholders to improve the minimum wage of the state workers and that soonest, the package would be made public.

The reason for adjusting the package, he said, was in line with the realities at hand, especially the economy, adding that the recently retired permanent secretaries and directors would receive arrears of salaries and gratuities due to them while reassuring of his commitment to defray pension arrears in the state.

“We do understand that things are a bit more difficult for the people. We are engaging with stakeholders to see how we can improve on the pay of civil servants in line with the present economic realities, where exchange rates have converged upwards and fuel subsidy has been removed and inflation is heading to 30%.

“We are already working to see how we can improve on not just the minimum wage but also across the line and announcement to that effect will be made in due course,” he said.

The governor also explained that he did not sack permanent secretaries in the state, stating that the officials were first placed on suspension and that their removal was in line with what was obtained at the federal level and that due process was followed.

He also explained that there are too many people in the state civil service and that the number has been “underreported. The number is beyond us”, stating that even in the Government House, there are many workers who are not doing anything and have been able to transfer out, 237 of them, who cannot be sacked.

On the issue of alleged expenses on food by his government, Otti said there is no truth in the allegations as they are unfounded and a hatchet man’s job, noting, “There is nothing like that. It is a hatchet man’s job. The truth of the matter is that it is about falsehood. This is a government that is very prudent in the way it handles funds.”

Otti used the opportunity to explain that he was not working or living in the Government House because his predecessor commissioned an incomplete building while the old Government House was left in a dilapidated state.