The Abia State Government has stated its preparedness to pay Abia State workers salary arrears in trenches. It said the payment will be for the arrears owed workers in the state-owned higher institutions of learning.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Commissioner for Finance, Mike Akpara, on Tuesday.
Stating this during a press conference in Umuahia, the State Capital, Akpara expressed the determination of the present administration to completely change the narratives of owing workers’ salaries. This, he said, a worker deserves his wages.
According to the Commissioner, the present State administration inherited a debt of N16.5 billion. He stated that was the amount of salary arrears owed to workers in state-owned institutions of learning.
Akpara, therefore, stated that the Government had resolved to clear the arrears. This is even as it is trying to sustain the advancement it recorded in other sectors of the economy.
He said, “We need to jump-start the economy of the State. And for the velocity of money to improve in Abia, we need to stop going to bed by 7 p.m.
“For salary arrears, the Governor has set up machinery in motion to ensure that salary arrears would become a thing of the past.
“One thing I will promise is that it will be paid, but it is not going to be in one sweep.
“We will do it in instalments. So that it does not hamper the progress of other sectors of the economy.”
The Commissioner, however, revealed that the Government would commence the payment of the salary arrears owed workers of state-owned institutions of learning by “July or August”.
According to him, the payments would be completed by the end of the year.
Akpara stated that the total salaries owed to all the institutions was N16.5 billion. He pointed out that the Government was expected to pay those arrears and do something in other sectors.
The Commissioner gave the names of the state-owned institutions of higher learning in the State. These include the Abia State University (ABSU), the College of Education, Arochukwu, and the College of Health Sciences. Others are the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, and the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba.
He also stated that Otti-led government had paid the salary arrears of the Abia State University, Uturu up till April and May.
He said, “We decided to run away from situations where subventions are being given to them. And yet they cannot pay salaries.
“In the past, there was something called generate-and-use. And we noticed that things were not being done properly.”
Akpara added that yet, there were situations “where salaries are being owed for 11 months, 33 months, 22 months respectively, in most of those institutions.”
“As a matter of fact, the past government owed Abia Polytechnic -33 months, College of Education Arochukwu – 22 months, and Abia State University – 11 months.
“Hospital Management Board was owed for several months. Theirs was humongous that they downed tools.
“We also have ASUBEB and SEMB. The total amounts being owed to them is over N4 billion,” he said.
The Commissioner, however, used the opportunity to dissuade people from calling the Abia State governor names.
He said that it was unfair for people to begin to call names and refer to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State as a liar.
He, however, urged the people to support the policies and programmes of the Government.
The Commissioner also clarified that the present administration had not applied for any loan facility since it assumed office. But has been managing its finances well enough to fulfil its obligations on time.
He said that the previous administration began the process of requesting a loan from the Africa Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
Akpara noted that Otti administration is completing what the past administration started since “government is a continuum”.
He added that the loans had not been released to the Government. Yet the Government had managed the State’s resources well.
The Commissioner pointed that the Government had resolved to continue to conduct verification exercises whenever the need arises. This, he said, is to restore sanity in the civil service.
“We will continue to apply ourselves to the good works that the State requires. And to ensure that the people get the dividend of democracy,” he said.
source: NAN
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