The gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State, Dr Kelechi Anosike, has alleged that directors in the state’s civil service use tricycles, popularly known as Keke NAPEP, to work over the terrible welfare conditions for workers under Governor Alex Otti’s administration.
Anosike made this disclosure to journalists on Thursday in Abuja.
He said Abia workers are living in penury and are overwhelmed by rising living costs under Otti’s government.
According to him, Otti’s administration has not been able to meet the minimum wage payment for all Abia workers despite receiving huge monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC to the state and local government councils, which run into billions of naira.
He pledged to prioritise workers with a proposed minimum wage of N90,000 or more if elected to replace Otti in 2027.
Anosike stressed that he would reinstate 15,000 sacked Abia workers under Otti.
“And that’s why I said that even though the government has given a national benchmark of N70,000 minimum wage, they are not even paying it. The government is paying some N50,000, some N60,000, some N70,000.
“And that’s how we start with N90,000 minimum wage. N90,000 minimum wage. You don’t need that. There will be health insurance for workers.
“You know the magistrates, all the magistrates in other states and directors have official cars, but no magistrate in Abia has an official car. Even in our city, both official cars for magistrates are making well in finance.
“In this regard, the directors go to work in tricycles in Abia. See, director, Level 17.
“So those are the things we want to correct. Because the money is not there to do it.
“We want to restore the dignity of the Abia worker.
“We want to give them a sense of belonging. We want to motivate them to work. All kinds of workers,” he said.
DAILY POST reports that Anosike and other opposition candidates are seeking to challenge Otti, the incumbent governor of the Labour Party, in the 2027 election.
