Why Abia State Government Can Not Pay Civil Servants
As the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu gradually shuts down, the government seems to be finding it more difficult to meet up with her obligation to Abia State Civil Servants under her payroll.
During ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER interaction with some of the Labour Leaders, they detailed various demands which covered almost all sectors. But more importantly, is that the state government have not paid salaries since March 2023 till date to the workers the government described as core civil servants, which the government has consistently boosted of meeting her salary obligations to.
This lack of salary payment which has been in the public domain, made ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER to be begin investigation into why or the reasons the government have failed in this regard.
While interacting with a top banker in one of the first-generation Banks in Umuahia, he revealed that the State Government have been collecting what he called T.O.D (Temporary Over Draft) and other loans from a particular bank (name with-held).
The banker stated that the state government consistently collects this T.O.D and other loans even when its allocation if well managed can meet the obligations of the state.
Unfortunately, when the government lost the last election, the said bank was then mandated from their headquarters to make sure it recovers all the loans and T.O.D collected by the Governor Okezie Ikpeazu led government before the expiration of their tenure.
This mandate means that any money that drops in the state government account domicile in that bank, the bank will immediately activate its repayment policy by seizing the money.
The Bank has also stopped advancing this current state government any loan or even T.O.D.
This has left the state government broke and unable to meet up with her obligations to Abia State workers and others.
Speaking with a former government functionary, he revealed that the T.O.D was completely paid down some years back and wondered why the government reverted and started collecting T.O.D again when they have enough fund to meet with their obligations.
He revealed that the T.O.D was necessary when the monthly allocation coming from the federal government was low, but that for the past 4 years the allocation has increased making T.O.D collection unnecessary.
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