Ikpeazu restates commitment to payment of salaries, pensions, women

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State on Monday said no governor in the country is more committed to the payment of salaries and pensions than him.

Gov. Ikpeazu made this assertion in Umuahia while addressing Abians in his New Year message, stating also that his administration will pay more attention to the empowerment of women as they play a major role in the stabilization of households.

According to him, the decision to hands off bailout funds led to commendations from the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC pointing out that no other governor in the country did what he did.

“I make bold to state that no Governor is more committed to the payment of salaries and pensions than I am. When we received our bailout funds from the Federal Government, I set up a Committee made up of our fund managers and the Labour Unions to manage the disbursement. I did not tell them what to do.

They worked out a modality for the disbursement of the funds and oversaw its implementation. Our novel concept earned us commendation from the ICPC in a period when other states were being accused of diverting the funds.

“Again, in the 1st tranche of Paris Club Refund, N5.7 Billion was released to Abia State and I handed over the entire amount to Abia State workers. No other Governor did what I did.

Irrespective of other areas crying for funds to ensure rapid development, I gave 100% of the money meant for every sector of Abia State to workers alone. That was a signpost of my commitment to the welfare of workers in Abia State.

Another batch of the Paris Club Refund has been released to Abia State and again, I have directed the release of a substantial portion to offset salary and pension arrears. Presently, all Ministries have received their December 2017 Salaries.

I am aware that some Parastatals are in arrears of 2 Months. I am optimistic that with the release of additional N3.2B, most of the issues will become history. I urge the public to continually verify the true status of workers’ salaries in Abia State before passing comments.

He said his administration has spent over 70% of all its revenue till date on workers alone and asked people to criticize his government on this issue and to be kind to acknowledge the efforts of his government.

“When you receive your payments, do not join those who are not aware of our efforts to criticize government and say that we are not paying you. Remember that we are Igbos and one of our ancient norms is that we do not soil the stream from where we fetch drinking water.

“I restate my commitment to the welfare of workers in Abia State and call on them to be fair in their criticism of government. I must commend our Students and Teachers for maintaining the 1st position in WAEC for the 3rd Consecutive Year now.

To encourage them, we have set up the Primary Teachers Continued Education Centre in Umuahia and I re-affirm my commitment towards clearing outstanding salaries owed teachers in the months ahead”, he said.

While pledging his commitment to a strong democratic process in Abia State devoid of bitterness and hate, as well as reaffirming his commitment and that of his team to give our utmost best for Abia State and work towards making life better for Ndi Abia, Ikpeazu said:

“We may not agree on all issues, but it is important that we conduct our disagreement in a civil and decent manner and called for prayers for God to grant the state peace and stability as prerequisites for meaningful development.

By Sunday Nwakanma – Umuahia