ABIA TO OFFSET N18BN SALARY ARREARS. (PHOTO).

 Abia to offset N18bn salary arrears

Abia State Government has reiterated its commitment to offset all outstanding salaries arrears owed to various tertiary institutions in the state by the immediate past government estimated at 18 billion naira.

The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.

He revealed that the payments would commence in August with 1.5 billion Naira to be disbursed monthly over the next 12 months.

Kanu said the government had taken decisive steps to address the longstanding issues of monthly salary payment of staff of Abia State University with the recent meeting where the governor met with the Vice Chancellor and members of the University’s Governing Council to discuss and resolve their financial concerns.

The commissioner said the governor directed the Accountant General to ensure the immediate payment of all outstanding monthly salaries of ABSU staff for both verified and unverified staff members within the week.

“That meeting offered the governor, the opportunity to bring those lingering issues to an end. During the meeting, he directed the accountant general to ensure that within the week, all outstanding salaries are paid, and this will apply to both those that 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 staff verification,” Kanu stated.

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

“So there’s no gainsaying the fact the Governor is committed to enhancing the welfare of the university’s staff as never done before by previous administrations”, Prince Kanu pointed out.”

He said Otti also directed the Accountant General to meet with the heads of tertiary institutions to harmonize their overhead expenditure needs for the government to tackle them accordingly.

The commissioner, who also addressed the issue of security of lives and assets in the public schools across the state, said the governor mandated the Senior Special Adviser on Homeland Security to collaborate with the Ministry of Education to deploy homeland security personnel to provide round-the-clock security for all schools.

He pointed out that the initiative is part of the government’s strategy to safeguard both lives and the huge investments it is making in the educational sector.