Abia State governor, Alex Otti, has clarified the nagging issues surrounding some deductions in the salaries of some civil servants in the state.

Mr Otti made the clarification at the Government House, Umuahia, on Friday during his monthly media interaction with journalists.

He said that the government conducted investigations in response to the complaints by some civil servants about deductions in their salaries.

Mr Otti said that the investigation revealed that the migration from the use of 2018/2019 tax rate to the current tax rate in deducting the taxes from salaries was responsible for the difference.

He said, “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. 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 found that it was not true.

Mr 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 overtime duties based on the request of the government.

He said: “If you were getting paid overtime and you were getting some overtime now the government says you are not supposed to work overtime. Except if there is a need for that and it is the government that would ask you to do that. I think that is what people are mistaking for the salary being deducted.”

On minimum wage, Mr Otti said that 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 minimum wage for civil servants every other salary would be adjusted accordingly.”

According to him, the government and the Nigeria Labour Congress are already interfacing to work out a solution that would be practicable and within the state’s meagre resources.

Mr 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 palliative among the poorest of the poor in society and workers in the lowest rung of the civil service ladder.

(NAN)