Abia state governor ikpeazu-no problem with workers
But in Abia according to an information that was made available to the State’s Commissioner for Information Chief John Okiy; by his counterpart , Mr Obinna Oriaku, the Commissioner for Finance, Abia State government currently pays workers a minimum wage of N23,000.
Speaking to The Authority, Okiyi who revealed this while speaking on the issue of payment of workers’ salaries in Abia; said, “I can personally confirm that ‘on the scale of the above mentioned minimum wage’ all the workers in Abia State Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) that make up more than 70% of the state government workers, have received September 2018 salaries.
“If you know any genuine worker currently working with the MDAs in the state civil service please put a call across and ask the person to verify my assertion.”
Chief Okiyi, went on said, “Where we have challenges with salary payment is with workers in some state parastatals. While parastatals like Abia State University, BCA, Ambassador Newspapers, primary school teachers etc are up to date with salary payment, others like Abia State Polytechnic, Abia State College of Education, Arochukwu, Secondary School Management Board and a few others have challenges with workers’ salary.
“It is important to note that the state government is not directly responsible for the payment of wages of workers in state parastatals. The management of the parastatals are by law empowered to make revenue and use same to pay wages and run their operations without remitting any portion to the state government’s account.
“The state government only gives subvention to parastatals: an agreed monthly amount to support their operations. Not necessarily meant for payment of workers.
“For instance, Abia State Polytechnic and Abia State University collect school fees from students and engage in other income yielding ventures. They don’t remit any portion of their revenue to the state government. While Abia State University pays her workers as and when due, Abia State Polytechnic is owing workers some months of wages, largely due to low revenue yield from a declining student population and high wage bill structure.”
On the other hand, he stated, “It is interesting to note that Abia State currently pays the highest wages in the south east region and has never reduced workers payment by any percentage. The state, under Governor Ikpeazu, resisted the temptation to retrench workers when the country was in economic recession even when some other states either retrenching workers or paying them 30%, 50% or 70% of their usual wages.
“And it is nothing but a fact that Abia State is currently paying N23,000 as minimum wage. Feel free to compare and contrast with what the federal government and other states are currently offering. Also compare what a level 8 worker in Abia State takes home with that of equivalent worker from other South East states.
“During the last May Day celebration a labor leader had a chat with me at the parade ground and I asked him if he will agree to receive what his mates in other south east states take home and he begged me never to suggest or mention that elsewhere. Of course I won’t because I am happy that our workers are better paid, they are the best in the world.
“Governor Ikpeazu has committed to helping parastatals with salary backlog to clear them, as much as possible, on or before year end. A committee is in place already and at work to realize that objective.
“All the above stated facts are verifiable and I invite readers to verify and ask me questions. The administration of Governor Ikpeazu has not solved all the challenges in Abia State but no fair minded person can say he has not done a lot of good things and still working to do much more from now to May 29th, 2023.”
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