The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has said the state government is not owing members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria in the state.
The governor who spoke on Sunday during an interdenominational thanksgiving service as part of activities marking the Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Umuahia, the state capital, said N30 million had been paid to the union to pay members.
Otti, who was reacting to the ongoing strike action by judiciary workers in the state, said his attention was brought to the issue through a newspaper publication.
He insisted that his administration does not owe workers.
Still, he explained that the leadership of the judiciary staff refused to come and sit down with the government to review the new minimum wage.
He said, “Yesterday, I saw in the newspapers that the Nigerian Bar Association was advising me in the newspapers to pay (judiciary workers), 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.
“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 calculations, and when we saw their calculation, we found a lot of errors, which we corrected.”
According to the governor, he later sat down with the government team and worked out judiciary workers’ salaries on December 24, 2024.
“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 N283,242,318.50 to the judiciary.
“Interestingly, as of this morning, 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 N27 million to make it about N300 million, which they should have also received, and I approved additional money for the thirteenth-month salary that I paid other people,” Otti explained.
Earlier, Otti commended members of the Nigerian Legion and the entire Nigerian armed forces, saying that they deserve to be celebrated.
Otti said, “The truth about it is that it is not easy to make sacrifices. You sign up for a job and you know that the chances of dying are 50-50.
“So, for you to have taken that decision, you deserve to be celebrated, and today we celebrate you.
“We want to also celebrate the fallen heroes and now that we have strong leadership, I would want the special adviser on security to sit with the leadership of the Nigerian Legion so that we see how we can make life easier for you and your families.
“So, today we are not just remembering; we are also celebrating you, the indefatigable men and women of our armed forces for the day and night that you spend on duty to ensure that we sleep with our two eyes closed.”
In his remarks, the State Chairman, of Nigeria Legion, Ekekwe Duroha, while thanking God for the day to remember their fallen colleagues and to celebrate those actively serving the nation, said nothing can quantify their sacrifices.
Duroha also noted that members of the armed forces pass through lots of hardship in the line of duty and called on all to always uphold them in prayers.
