Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti said he is engaging with stakeholders to improve on the minimum wage of the state workers to align with the present economic realities.
The governor disclosed this on Friday night during the 3rd edition of his monthly media chat held in Government House, Umuahia.
According to him, the reason for adjusting the pay of the workers is because of the economic realities of the nation.
“We do understand that things are a bit more difficult for the people.
” We are engaging with stakeholders to see how we can improve on the pay of civil servants in line with the present economic realities; where exchange rates have converged upwards and fuel subsidy has been removed and inflation is heading to 30%.
“We are already working to see how we can improve on not just the minimum wage but also across the line, and announcement to that effect will be made in due course, ”he stated.
He also explained that he is not living in the Government House because his predecessor commissioned an incomplete building while the old Government House was left in a dilapidated nature.
He lampooned the former governor for going ahead with the commissioning a day to his swearing in despite some parts of the facility not ready and befitting for inhabitation and work.
The governor stated that for the new Government House, the second floor of the building was not even plastered and wondered why the rush in commissioning the project.
He, however, said the cost of fixing the government house was overwhelmingly high and chose to operate from his private residence but added that he will definitely fix the government house.
The Governor said, “My predecessor commissioned an incomplete building. That’s a deceit of the highest order. He didn’t need to commission it.
“The question to ask is that construction started with the administration of T.A Orji, why didn’t they complete it and move into it? But he waited until the twilight of his administration.
“When we went to inspect it, we found out that he did a fantastic job on the ground floor. It was finished well but of course it had no bedrooms.
“Bedrooms were on the upper floors. The upper floors were not touched. Infact, the second floor, was not even plastered, so why commission? So I looked at it and found that it was not ready for occupation.
“The whole environment was also not ready to receive a governor. The office block has been abandoned for several years. So that place was not a place anybody could live.”
