Abia To Engage Whistleblowers In Corruption Fight

The Abia State Government has announced its intention to engage the services of whistleblowers in its campaign against fraud and corruption in the state.

The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, said this when he briefed newsmen on the outcome of this week’s executive council meeting in Umuahia, the state capital.

He was accompanied by his counterpart of the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Uzor Nwachukwu, and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Dr Betty Emeka-Obasi.

Explaining that the campaign would be launched soon, Kanu added that the meeting was chaired by the governor, Dr. Alex Otti, at his Umuru country home.

Kanu argued that the whistle blowing policy, which will be the first of its kind in the state,would mark a significant milestone in the current administration’s bid to do things differently.

He announced that civil servants, who didn’t participate in the just-concluded verification exercise in the state, would no longer receive their salaries beginning from this month.

“Those who are affected have the opportunity to go back to their MDAs to interface with their heads to know why they have not been verified”, Kanu further noted.

Speaking on education, he said the administration is carrying out reforms in the sector to ensure that the schools and the staff, especially the teachers are of acceptable qualifications and standards.

Kanu maintained that it was in its bid to raise the quality of the teachers, the environment, and the nature of the schools that the administration recently shutdown 197 schools in the state.

End.