By NewsCritic Reporters
Some staff of Umunneochi Local Government Education Authority have appealed to Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti for the payment of their outstanding eight months salaries arrears. They also requested for the issuance of their verification codes to enable them participate in the verification exercise being conducted for government employees.
The workers of Umunneochi LGA Education Authority made the appeal during their protest march to the Abia State government house Umuahia on Tuesday 21 March, 2024 to draw the attention of the state government to their plights at the Umunneochi Education Authority.
According to the spokesperson of the protesting workers and concerned staff of Umunneochi Local Government Education Authority employed in July 2022, Mr Okwudiri…, said they have been pleading with the relevant authorities to be paid their accumulated salaries, adding that they got their last salary in May 2023.
He disclosed that since Gov Alex Otti came to power this group of staff employed in 2022 have not been paid any salary, saying all efforts and requests made to the commissioner ministry of Finance and Accountant General have not yielded any positive results.
“We’ve been pleading that we be paid our salaries, we got our last salary on 6th of May 2023. We have not received any salaries since this govt came in, so we are pleading with our gov Dr Alex Otti to please release our accumulated salaries from June 2023 till date, and to also issue our verification codes. We have gone on peaceful protest several times, to ASUBEB, ministry of finance and accountant general office, and all they have been giving us is hope that they will pay but up till now nothing has happened.
“So, we are pleading with Gov Otti whom we all voted for change, since he came to power, we have not been paid so we are pleading for payment of outstanding 8 months salaries. We still go to work even in my own school where I teach at Lomara Secondary School, which was already a failed school but I resurrected the school through sensitization in collaboration with churches and the school is now back to life. In Umunneochi there are lack of teachers and those posted there don’t stay due to insecurity. We are pleading for him to pay us our salaries”.
The workers wondered why they are being made to pass through this kind of treatment and difficulties at this period of economic hardship in the country.