It\’s a lie. I\’m not owing any core civil servant wage – Gov Ikpeazu says

The Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, described as a lie, claims that his authorities is owing a number of months of salaries to some civil servants within the state.

The Governor-Elect of the state, Alex Otti, had after his election stated he contested for the third time as a result of the present authorities by no means addressed points that made him run for the workplace the primary time, together with owing staff salaries.

In an interview with Channels TV on Thursday, March 30, Governor Ikpeazu stated no “core civil servant” is being owed any wage, including that people who have points with salaries are working in parastatals.

“I\’ve 31,000 staff in Abia workforce and 29,000 of them are updated as we converse in wage fee… Parastatals obtain subvention. I don’t pay their salaries as a result of they\’re revenue-generating businesses of presidency,” Ikpeazu stated.

In line with him, the difficulty of non-payment of pension and salaries has been there lengthy earlier than he assumed workplace and he has executed his greatest to settle them with the expectation that his successor will proceed from the place he stopped.

“However I don’t run away from accountability, the difficulty of pension has been there perennially because the previous 24 years. I did as a lot as I may, this authorities since inception handed by two to a few recessions. After I got here, inside three months of my administration, I paid eleven months arrears of wage. These eleven months had been there whereas I used to be governor. So, if you happen to take up place as governor you might have accepted to take over each legal responsibility and asset and I don’t wish to complain. I didn’t have to speak about what my predecessors didn\’t do as a result of what gave me my job within the first place was that there have been issues they didn’t do. So, for anyone to come back and make a sweeping assertion that no wage is being paid is a lie, I\’m not owing any core civil servant wage,” he added.

He argued that as a result of the parastatals obtain cash from the federal government, they need to be capable to make cash which can allow them pay salaries of workers.

Ikpeazu, whose second time period as governor will finish in Could, misplaced his bid to characterize Abia South within the Senate within the February 25 Nationwide Meeting election. His most popular candidate, Okey Ahiwe additionally misplaced the governorship election to Labour Get together’s Otti.