Abia Gov-Elect, Otti, accuses Ikpeazu of sabotage, job racketeering

Dr. Alex Otti, the governor-elect of Abia State, has expressed concern about potential job racketeering in the state public service before Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s term ends.

Otti claimed that backdated job letters were given to the recipients in a bazaar of unlawful employment that was taking place in various ministries and parastatals.

The governor-elect made this claim on Thursday, during a press briefing, noting “This action which is geared towards laying a needless landmine for the incoming government has shown how unpatriotic and selfish the perpetrators are.”

However, Ikpeazu denied the allegations while noting that it was not true that he is owing civil servants in the state salaries of several months.

READ ALSO:INEC declares Labour Party’s Alex Otti winner of Abia governorship election

Reacting to Otti’s claims on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Ikpeazu said no “core civil servant” is being owed any salary, adding that those that has issues with salaries are working in parastatals.

“I have 31,000 workers in Abia workforce and 29,000 of them are up to date as we speak in salary payment… Parastatals receive subvention. I don’t pay their salaries because they are revenue-generating agencies of government,” Ikpeazu said.

“When I came, within three months of my administration, I paid eleven months arrears of salary. Those eleven months were there while I was governor. So, if you take up position as governor you have accepted to take over both liability and asset and I don’t like to complain.

“I didn’t have to talk about what my predecessors did not do because what gave me my job in the first place was that there were things they didn’t do. So, for somebody to come and make a sweeping statement that no salary is being paid is a lie, I am not owing any core civil servant salary,” he added.

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