Olusegun ARIYO
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The All Progressives Congress, APC, has written to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, requesting him to improve the living conditions of workers and pensioners in the State.In the said letter, the APC claimed that some civil servants in the State were receiving far below the approved N70,000 national minimum wage benchmark as monthly salaries.The letter, which was signed by Uche Aguoru, the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Abia State chapter, also urged the Governor to address the unpaid gratuity of pensioners, even as it criticised the delay in the implementation of allowance increase promised to the members of the National Youths Service Corps, NYSC, who are serving in the State.The party said:“Also very disappointing was the widely published announcement made by your administration over a year ago, promising to increase the monthly allowance of NYSC members serving in the State to N50,000.”But responding to the APC letter, the leadership of the Labour Party, LP, in Abia State, accused the broom party of spreading desperate and blatant lies against Governor Otti’s administration concerning the welfare of civil servants and pensioners.The LP, which spoke through its Publicity Secretary in the State, Iroegbu Emenike, said the days when pensioners died in queues for their pensions were over in the State.The LP alleged that members of the present APC in the State were part of the people who allegedly set the State back for almost 30 years before Governor Alex Otti took over, adding that the APC lacked the face to write such an open letter to Governor Otti.LP maintained that workers and retirees are receiving their salaries and monthly pensions, respectively.On the delay in implementing the NYSC members’ monthly allowance promises, LP berated the APC, saying that the broom party failed to “understand that administrative procedures and policies follow pronouncements by a Governor before full implementation.”
