Ugwunagbo Health Authority Workers have appealed to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State to come to their rescue following non-payment of salaries and arrears ranging from 3,4, 6,7, 8 to 9 months.
There have been cries over the issue of non payment of salaries in the 17 LGAs of the State with assurances being made by the Abia State Government to address the issue.
A worker in Ugwunagbo Council, who pleaded anonymity, said they are being treated as though they are not part of the Abia State workforce. She said since the current Governor Alex Otti came on board, they have been filling one form or another, stressing that there has not been any resolution and efforts to pay them.
She said the most annoying is that they have been participating in every exercise in the Council and Abia at large, filling forms with bank statements, nominal roles, Biometric capturing, among others, yet the State Government has continued to neglect them.
The LG health worker informed that some selected Ugwunagbo Health Workers visited Governor Otti at his Nvosi home in January to appeal for his intervention in their salary issue, stating that the Governor assured through one of his Advisers, that the matter would be addressed soon.
She said it is regrettable that despite all promises of intervention, nothing has happened. She narrated the story of a Staff of the Council who slumped and died when she visited Umuahia to find out why she was owed 9 months salary, adding that there have been cases of workers borrowing to survive.
She called on the Abia State Government to urgently address the issue of salaries of Ugwunagbo Health Authority Workers, saying they are gnashing their teeth.
Meanwhile, the Mayor, Ugwunagbo LGA, Nosike Ihesiaba said that already a list of those owed salaries in the LG is being compiled, adding that he will take the list to Umuahia for proper action while also promising to get back to our reporter on Tuesday but didn’t and also failed to pick calls put across to him by our reporter.
The Head of Service, Ugwunagbo LGA, Mr Ezekiel Onyeike on the matter said the ongoing verification process is the reason why it has not been easy for the State Government to clear the salaries of LGA workers in the council.
He said there have been issues of complacency on the part of the workers regarding their NIN, saying that irregularities abound in their NIN, phone numbers while some who lost their numbers, use other numbers not captured ab initio to replace, maintaining that this is part of the problems.
Onyeike revealed that the Health workers, only use their facility to work, stressing that the Council cannot be said to be solely responsible for the activities of the Health workers as they have their Accounting Head and Payroll Officer separately.
Ugwunagbo Council Health Workers Decry Non-payment of Salaries, Appeal For Otti’s Intervention
