Respite appears underway for civil servants in Abia State as the
Governor-elect, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, has said his coming on board would
mark an end to the era of salary arrears in the state, assuring that
under his watch, Abia workers will earn their salaries on the 24th of
every month.
He, however, added that he would carry out workers’ audit to verify the
actual population of Abia workers, arguing that it is not logical to
spend a whopping N2.5 billion of the state’s paltry N3 billion monthly
allocation on civil servants that are less than 15,000 while nothing is
left to cater for other citizens of the state.
Ikpeazu, who stated this while speaking at an interactive forum with Aba
business community and members of ‘Kezie Abia Forum,’ said his
administration would not neglect the welfare of workers but added that
it would also not sacrifice the interest of non-civil servants that
constitute the greater percentage of the people.
While civil servants in the core ministries are not being owed according
to government sources, workers in the parastatals complain of arrears
ranging from two to five months in some instances.
Government argues that the parastatals are creations of law and should
source for funds to augment their subventions and pay their staff.
Ikpeazu also read a riot act to contractors and those jostling for space
in his government, vowing to disgrace anyone who failed to deliver
according to specifications.
“If I give you a job and you fail to deliver, we will disgrace
ourselves,” he said, adding that his decision to ban visitors from
paying him homage was to enable him prepare for the task ahead.
He further hinted that when sworn in, he would not want to be addressed
as “Your Excellency,” but simply as “Governor,” arguing that “it is only
God that is excellent.”
Earlier in his remarks, Leader of ‘Kezie Abia’ group that organised the
forum, Comrade Dan Ubani, tasked Ikpeazu on service delivery, saying
Abians will hold him accountable for all his campaign promises.
No comments :
Post a Comment