Ikpeazu Accepts Responsibility for Salary Arrears

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

As industrial unrest continues to rock Abia State following unpaid salary arrears, the state Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has accepted responsibility for the crisis, saying he would not blame his predecessors.

The immediate-past state governor, Senator Theodore Orji, had at the weekend lashed out at Ikpeazu, saying the governor should carry his cross and not blame the past administration for the unpaid salaries.

Orji in a statement issued by his liaison officer, Ifeanyi Umere, absolved himself and his administration from blame over the salary arrears. The former governor insisted that when he left office, core civil servants were not owed even a month salary while parastatals were owed between two and four months’ arrears.

“For the avoidance of doubt, neither myself nor my administration is responsible for the staggering salary arrears owed civil servants, parastatals and pensioners in the state,” the former governor said.

While the state workers and the public were expecting a war of words between the incumbent governor and his predecessor, Ikpeazu disappointed his supporters by absorbing the darts

Instead, Ikpeazu’s Chief Press Secretary, Onyebuchi Ememanka, in a statement said the governor “is proudly carrying the cross of the governance of Abia State, and will continue to carry it till his last day in office.”

He said Ikpeazu has adopted it as a personal policy not to join issues with any of his predecessors in office.

According to him, “For almost eight years he has held office as the governor, he has not engaged any of his predecessors in any kind of untoward exchange, even when it seemed politically expedient to do so.

“This policy is largely responsible for the sociopolitical stability we have enjoyed in Abia State since 2015. The governor intends to sustain this personal policy going forward.”

He said Governor Ikpeazu “is of the firm view that as in all matters, history and posterity will over time put all things in proper perspective.