The Governor of Abia State, has stated that the state government does not owe any members of the Nigerian Judiciary Staff Union.
The governor, speaking on Sunday at an interdenominational thanksgiving service commemorating Armed Forces Remembrance Day in Umuahia, the state capital, said N30 million had been handed to the union to pay members.
Otti, who was reacting to the continuing strike action by state judiciary personnel, stated that he became aware of the matter through a media publication.
He claimed that his administration owes nothing to workers.Still, he explained that the leadership of the court personnel declined to meet with the administration to discuss the increased minimum pay.
He stated, “Yesterday, I saw in the newspapers that the Nigerian Bar Association was recommending me to pay (judiciary personnel), and I assumed that the Nigerian Bar Association should have known better. “First and foremost, you should understand that this is a government that does not owe.
As a result, the claim that judges have not been paid is false.”By the time the minimum wage was raised, we began collaborating with them, exactly like the Nigerian Labour Congress. “Interestingly, they declined to meet with the administration.
They sat in the comfort of their desks and conducted their own review, and the situation became increasingly 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 met with the government team to negotiate salaries for judiciary staff 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 to finalize everything about their salaries, and on December 24, we remitted N283,242,318.50 to the judiciary.” “Interestingly, as of this morning, they had refused to pay their employees.
The judiciary is now considered an independent branch of government. Our role is to transfer the funds to their account, and their job is to pay their employees. “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 told me.Earlier, Otti praised members of the Nigerian Legion and the whole Nigerian military forces, stating that they deserve to be honored.
Otti stated, “Making sacrifices is not simple. You join up for a job knowing that the possibilities of dying are 50/50. “So, for making that decision, you deserve to be celebrated, and today we do. “We want to honor the fallen heroes, and now that we have strong leadership, I would like the special adviser on security to meet with the leadership of the Nigerian Legion to discuss 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, Ekekwe Duroha, State Chairman of the Nigeria Legion, thanked God for the day to mourn their lost colleagues and honor those who are actively serving the nation, saying that nothing can quantify their sacrifice. Duroha further remarked that personnel of the armed forces face numerous challenges in the course of their duties and urged everyone to pray for them.