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• Alleges presence of strangers faces in Aba
From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Member representing Aba South state constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, Hon. Obinna Ichita, has described as fake, Gov Okezie Ikpeazu’s command promotion to Abia workers as fake and asked them to disregard the automatic promotion.
This is even as Ichita has raised the alarm over the presence of “strange faces in Aba”, who he alleged, were imported by political desperados ahead of the March 18 governorship and state house of assembly elections.
The lawmaker who spoke at a press conference in Umuahia, said it was hard to believe that a Governor who had not paid doctors for 24 months and owed pensioners for years would announce promotion for all civil servants less than eight weeks to the end of his tenure.
He wondered why the governor had to wait until few weeks to leave office and few days to the Governorship electio before remembering civil servants.
The lawmaker who claimed that the move was an attempt to influence civil servants to vote for the ruling party’s candidates in the forthcoming governorship and house of assembly elections, urged Abia workers not to fall for the trick.
He further alleged that the Governor had not been known to keep his promises, adding that there was no budgetary provision for the automatic promotion in the current budget.
“Of recent, the outgoing government of Abia State has been engaging in exceptional acts of subterfuge. Before now, the Government had promised our people that it was going to embark on interventionist measures in Abia North and some other LGAs.
“But I addressed the press and told our people that this Government does not keep promises. They promised us Enyimba Economic City but failed to deliver it. They promised traders in Ariaria International Market that they would park into their rebuilt stalls latest by December 6, 2021 but failed.
“They promised traders in Ahia Ohuru that by May 29, 2021, that within six weeks they would complete the demolition and reconstruction of their stalls but failed. All those promises were fake. This one also, just like those ones, cannot fly.
“Why I said that this promise will fail is because as a lawmaker, I know there is no provision in this years budget to cover the cost implications on the recurrent expenditure.
“If the Government were sincere about the automatic promotion, it would have included this in the budget so that we will know we are expecting our people to be promoted and paid their salaries.
” The Government has no plans to pay. Civil servants should disregard this fake promise from this failed Government that has perpetually subjected our people to exceptional servitude.
“This is a government that has not paid leave allowances since 2015; not promoted anybody; and that has not paid salary of doctors and teachers and others as and when due. Now barely two few weeks to the expiration of its tenure, it’s announcing automatic promotion for everybody”.
The lawmaker said this was nothing but deception, adding that It’s an insult to the collective intelligence of the people of Abia State.
“What it just shows is that Abia Government thinks that our people are so stupid; it thanks that we have suspended our intelligence, and would be carried away by fake promises”.
Ichita urged civil servants in the state to ignore, as according to him, the present Government in the state has always made fake promises which it never fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Hon Ichita has raised the alarm over the presence of “strange faces in Aba”, who he alleged, were imported by political desperados ahead of the March 18 governorship and state house of assembly elections.
He said anybody no matter how highly or lowly connected, that attempts to foment trouble in the forthcoming election , would be vigorously resisted.
