Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has explained that the deductions from their salaries that some civil servants have complained about stemmed from the application of the 2021/2022 new tax rate already in force in the State, in the calculation of workers’ salaries and allowances in the State.
Speaking last night (Friday, August 9) at his monthly media interaction with newsmen in the Government House, Umuahia, Otti said that when the government conducted investigations in response to the complaints by some civil servants about deductions from their salaries, it was revealed that the migration from the use of 2018/2019 tax rate to the current 2021/2022 tax rate in making deductions from salaries was responsible for the difference.
“A lot of people who felt their salaries were being reduced, when we investigated those complaints, we found that what actually happened was that before now an old tax rate was being applied,” Otti explained.
“The 2018/2019 tax rate was being applied and there was a 2021/2022 tax law, which of course, has come into effect.
“I find it difficult to accept that somebody is pinching salaries, then how do you even do it, because the money leaves the account of the state and hits the account of the beneficiary.
“So, at what point would somebody deduct the salaries, and if you deduct, where do you take it to?”
The governor also said that the government had investigated the complaint about salary disparity in some Local Government Areas of the state and “we found that it is not true”.
Otti also attributed the development to tax deductions, using the current rate.
He said that the government had evolved a policy that allows the payment of overtime allowance to a civil servant that performs “over time duties”, based on the request of the government.
He said: “If you were getting paid for overtime and now the government says you are not supposed to work overtime, except there is a need for that and the government asks you to do that, you can no longer get paid for overtime work.
“I think that is what people are mistaking for the salary being deducted.”
On the minimum wage, Otti said the government had set up a committee to look into the issue as it awaited more clarifications from the Federal Government on the matter.
He said: “You know the minimum wage announcement was just about the minimum wage of N70,000.
“What that means is that every other person’s salary would go up.
“So, it is not just going to be the minimum wage for civil servants, every other salary would be adjusted accordingly,” he clarified.
According to him, the government and the Nigerian Labour Congress are already interfacing to work out a solution that would be practicable and within the state’s meagre resources.
Otti said that the government had placed the issue of the new minimum wage on the front burner.
“As we even prepare for a review of the budget after the virement, we are already making provisions for increase of salaries on the basis of the new minimum wage,” he said.
The governor also spoke on how Abia’s share of the federal government’s trucks of rice was distributed to the people.
He said that the government resolved to share the palliatives among the poorest of the poor in society and workers in the lowest rung of the civil service ladder.
Abia nurses to retire at 65 from 60 years of age
In another development, Gov. Otti has said his government will soon announce a new retirement age for nurses in the state from 60 years to 65 years.
He told newsmen at his monthly interactive session with them in the Abia Government House Friday (last) night that the measure was part of the government’s resolve to revamp the health sector, being one of the priority areas of his administration, disclosing that the government had earlier announced the extension of teachers’ retirement from 60 years to 65 years.
To complement the government’s efforts towards strengthening the State’s medical manpower requirement, Otti also disclosed his government has concluded arrangements to set up a state-of-the-art medical city, disclosing that a committee to that effect has been set up and the location already identified.
Explaining that the government would collaborate with two groups of international medical missions, namely, Extended Hands and Lifted Hands organisations, to actualise the project,” the Abia State Governor enthused: “We are committing everything to it because it is going to be one of our signature projects.
“The whole idea is to reverse medical tourists into Abia.”
On the challenge of resources, he assured Ndi Abia that so far, his government has been able to operate without borrowing any money, pointing out, however, that the government has quite a few tempting offers that, at the appropriate time, “we will access them.”
“We are working on African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank Group facilities.
“The terms are generous and we believe that when we need them we will be able to access any of them.
“I can say that the state of the state is healthy, but we will continue to keep our eye on the ball,” the Governor, an acclaimed banker, said.
He also spoke on the modest achievements so far made in different sectors of the state, including agriculture, stating that his government has successfully recovered the palm, rubber, cocoa and other plantations, which were concessioned to private individuals by previous administrations.
Otti thanked all residents of the State for their support and urged them to sustain it toward building a new Abia.
