Abia to make up N18 billion in wage arrears

The Abia State Government has reiterated its commitment to reimburse all salary arrears owed by the previous administration to tertiary institutions in the state, amounting to about N18 billion.

This was disclosed on Monday by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu
and briefed journalists on the outcome of this week’s executive committee meeting chaired by Governor Alex Oti.

He disclosed that the payments will commence in August and N1.5 billion will be disbursed monthly for the next 12 months.

Kanu said government had taken decisive steps to resolve the long-standing issue of monthly salaries of staff at Abia State University, adding that the governor recently held a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor and members of the Governing Council of the university to discuss and resolve their financial issues.

The Commissioner said the Governor directed the Accountant General to ensure immediate payment of all outstanding monthly salaries of ABSU employees, both verified and unverified, within a week.

“That meeting provided an opportunity for the governor to resolve these outstanding issues. During the meeting, he directed the Accountant General to ensure that all outstanding salaries are paid within a week. This would apply to both verified and unverified salaries.

“The governor directed that the verification team be relocated to Abia State University to resolve all outstanding staff verification issues,” Kanu said.

While stressing the governor’s commitment to improving the welfare of university employees, the commissioner noted that salaries for April, May and June have already been paid.

“Therefore, it is undeniable that the Governor is committed to improving the welfare of university staff, something that no previous administration has ever done,” Prince Kanu noted.

He said Oti had also directed the Accountant General to meet the heads of various higher education institutions to coordinate their administrative expenses demands so that the government could take appropriate measures.

The commissioner also spoke about the safety of lives and assets in public schools across the state, saying the governor authorized the Senior Special Adviser on Homeland Security to work with the Department of Education to deploy homeland security personnel to provide round-the-clock security to all schools.

He noted that the move was part of the government’s strategy to ensure safety of lives and make huge investments in the education sector.