A former government official in Abia State, Chief John Okiyi Kalu and former chief press secretary to the immediate past governor, Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka have cautioned Governor Alex Otti on blaming his predecessor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, for his governance blunders since he assumed office.
Okiyi-Kalu, a former commissioner for information in Ikpeazu’s administration urged governor Otti to take total responsibility for his shortcomings and leave the ex-governor alone.
He said Otti is using Ikpeazu’s name to justify his “incompetence and maltreatment” of Abia youths who he recently sacked from the state civil service.
The former commissioner who responded to questions from newsmen on a recent statement credited to the incumbent commissioner for information, Okey Kanu, who accused Ikpeazu of employing ghost workers and backdating their employment letters, said it was laughable that after 100 days in office, Otti’s government does not know that a governor does not sign appointment letters and the use of BVN has totally eliminated ghost workers from Abia payroll system.
He said, “Obviously the Otti administration is constituted by men and women with zero public sector management experience but after 100 days in office, one should expect that they have learned enough to know that a governor does not sign appointment letters.
“Under Ikpeazu, we had a duly constituted civil service commission whose job is to screen and recruit workers after waivers have been issued. It appears to me that Otti is no longer making use of this commission because he has employed workers at various levels, including his new accountant-general and they should all have passed through that commission without Otti signing their appointment letter himself.
“You can’t even talk about backdating because as long as there is a duly approved waiver from the governor of the state the civil service commission will independently schedule, at their own convenience, to screen and issue appointment letters to those involved.
“Every waiver endorsed by former Governor Ikpeazu remained valid as long as he endorsed before leaving office. It was not his job to decide when the commission will issue letters and I challenge Otti to publish any of the backdated appointment letters signed by Ikpeazu.”
In his comment, Ememanka said in what has become a dangerous obsession, the Otti administration has become incurably unable to do anything without looking for any possible means to blame the Ikpeazu administration, even for things that make absolutely no sense.
He said, “Their latest ploy is to blame the Ikpeazu administration and in particular, former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for their decision to sack several thousands of workers from the Abia State Civil Service.
“It is disturbing that someone who speaks for a state government is blatantly ignorant of the workings of government. How can actions carried out by a sitting Governor in offering employment to teeming Abians be termed as illegal?
“The term illegality connotes some form of criminality. What is criminal about the decision of an incumbent governor to offer employment to the people of the state, putting them on the payroll and paying them a salary?”
Ememanka said that it is laughable to hear the Abia commissioner for information accusing the Ikpeazu administration of employing people through the backdoor and back-dating employment letters given to them.
“This statement is ridiculous and preposterous. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Ikpeazu administration had absolutely no reason to backdate any employment letter issued to any person employed in the State Civil Service.
“We concede that we had some gaps in the salaries of some agencies of government and pensions but the situation was not as bad as the people were meant to believe.
“Ikpeazu battled to pay salaries to workers even with the dwindling revenue profile of the State. Today, on account of the removal of petroleum subsidies by the federal government, Otti has received in three months what Ikpeazu never got in almost one year, yet he chose to sack workers.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu is proud that his administration provided a platform for Abia youths to get jobs and deal with the challenges of unemployment and insecurity.
“He was very creative about it. It was Ikpeazu who as Governor, created agencies like the Abia State Public Utilities Management Agency (APUMA), the Abia State Traffic Management Agency, and the Homeland Security Corp which created thousands of jobs for Abia youths.
“It was Ikpeazu who built 2 factories – the automated Shoe and Garment Factories which have both been totally abandoned by the Otti administration with hundreds of millions of Abia money rotting away in equipment in those factories. Ikpeazu will never apologise for giving jobs to Abians.”
