The Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, has clarified that his administration does not owe judiciary staff.
OsunDailyNG reports that Governor Otti said contrary to accusations from the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), it was the judiciary arm that owed its workers.
The Governor stated this on Sunday during an interdenominational thanksgiving service, a part of activities, for the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, in Umuahia.
He explained that the delay in the release of funds for the judiciary workers was caused by their unsupportive instance.
Yesterday (Saturday), I saw in the newspapers that the Nigerian Bar Association was advising me in the newspapers to pay, and I thought that the Nigerian Bar Association should have known better.
“First of all, you should know that this is a government that does not owe. So, it is untrue that judiciary workers have not been paid.
“By the time the minimum wage was reviewed upwards, we started engaging with them just like the Nigerian Labour Congress.
“Interestingly, they refused to come and sit with the government. They sat in the comfort of their offices and did their own review themselves, and the matter was getting a bit more serious.
“So, I had to intervene and engaged with the Chief Judge, who intervened and asked them to bring their workings, and when we saw their workings, we found a lot of errors, which we corrected,” he said.
Abia State Governor further disclosed that he added ₦27 million and also approved 13-month salary for the workers, He regretted that the state’s judiciary was withholding the salaries of the workers.
“I sat down myself to ensure that by December 24, 2024, I worked with the Accountant General, Commissioner for Justice and Commissioner for Finance and we concluded everything about their salary and on December 24, we remitted ₦283,242,318.50 to the judiciary.
“Interestingly, as of this morning (Sunday), they have refused to pay their workers. Now, the judiciary is an arm of government that is independent. Our job is to remit the money to their account, and their job is to pay their workers.
“I even approved another ₦27 million to make it about ₦300 million, which they should have also received, and I approved additional money for the thirteenth-month salary that I paid other people,” he explained.
