The current administration of Abia State has pledged to pay off the estimated N18 billion in unpaid salary arrears to the state’s several postsecondary institutions from the previous administration.
On Monday, during a press briefing regarding the results of the weekly Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti, Okey Kanu, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, revealed this information.
N1.5 billion would be distributed each month for the following 12 months, starting in August, according to him.
Kanu added that the governor met with the vice chancellor and members of the university’s governing council to address their financial concerns, and that the government had taken immediate action to address the long-standing problems with the salary payment of the personnel of Abia State University.
During the meeting, the governor gave the Accountant General instructions to make sure that all unpaid monthly payments for ABSU employees—verified and unverified—are paid out right away and within the next week.
“In the course of the meeting, he directed the Accountant General to ensure that within the week, all outstanding salaries are paid, and this will apply to those who have been verified and those yet to be verified.
“The governor directed that the verification team be relocated to Abia State University to conclude all outstanding issues of verification of staff,” Kanu stated.
The commissioner said that the salary for the months of April, May, and June had been paid in an effort to better the welfare of university employees.
“So there’s no gainsaying the fact that the governor is committed to enhancing the welfare of the university staff as never done before by previous administrations,” Kanu added.
He added that in order to standardise overhead costs, the governor had given the Accountant General instructions to meet with the leaders of all of the state’s tertiary institutions.
