The Abia State Government has introduced a whistle-blowing policy, which empowers members of the public to raise the alarm over suspected fraudulent acts.
Okey Kanu, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Culture, , disclosed this, on Tuesday, while briefing journalists on decisions taken at the State Executive Council meeting. He described the policy as a significant milestone in the state government’s efforts at doing things differently.
He also announced that all unverified state government workers would, from the end of November, no longer be paid salaries, stressing that workers ought to be verified within the two weeks extension window.
Dr Betty Emeka-Obasi, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Special Duties to the Governor, Alex Otti, recalled that the verification started in July, but some workers had not made themselves available for the exercise.
According to the SSA, names of affected workers have been displayed in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and have been expected to submit their documents to heads of establishments, who would, in turn, hand them over to the verification committee.
Meanwhile, it had been estimated that the new Government House would take about two years to complete. The CPS added that Otti had refused to give priority to his Umuahia residence and office to enable him to address immediate state needs.
