Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has reacted following reports that he is planning not to pay salary arrears. Reacting through Ferdinand Ekeoma, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Otti dismissed the comment credited to a former local council chairman, Promise Uzoma Okoro. Okoro had alleged that workers’ April salary arrears left by former governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration would not be paid. Ekeoma said the present administration in the state is marshalling the right strategy geared towards clearing accumulated salary arrears owed to members of the state workforce by the immediate past government in the state. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday in Umuahia, the state capital, he expressed dismay at the outbursts by Okoro, describing the statements by the latter as fake and mischievous. “The said Mr Okoro could not state where and when the governor made the statement. “He probably anchored his assumption on the plans of the governor to pay May salary first, which of course is his immediate priority before tackling the humongous accumulated salary arrears left behind, which include the April salary Okoro mentioned. “The governor understands the place and importance of payment of salary as an enabler of economic growth and development, and is therefore marshalling out the righ strategy geared towards clearing the Abia salary mess,” he said. Ekeoma added that it has become curious that Okoro, who had earlier claimed that the past government was not owing April salary, is now talking about non-payment of same salary arrears. He urged the public to discountenance and ignore the half-baked statements posted by the author, and see the online report as one of those fabrications aimed at drawing social media traffic.
