As Abia State Judiciary Workers subsist their Strike action that commenced on 15th March, 2026, the state government has vowed to pay their salary within 48 hours of their providing the government with evidence that their paid salaries which were paid , based on Consolidated Judiciary Salary Structure ( CONJUSS ) excluded their Leave Bonuses, also known as Leave Allowance.

The workers under the aegis of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria ( JUSUN ) claimed being owed Leave Allowance, and in protest, proceeded on indefinite Strike since 15 March, 2026, even against the Government stated directive to them on 13th March ( two days before the 15th March ) to provide this evidence of non payment of this Leave Allowance or Leave Bonus.

The state Attorney General/Justice Commissioner ( HAG ) Mr Ikechukwu Uwanna, a senior advocate of Nigeria ( SAN ) , who addressed journalists on the matter Thursday evening at Government House Umuahia, recalled that the state judiciary Workers were so directed to provide this evidence on 13 th March, but that instead of complying, they, on 15th March ( two days after the 13th March ), embarked on the strike that subsists till date.

The HAG spoke to the journalists in the presence of the state Commissioners for Information Prince Okey Kanu, Labour & Productivity Mr Kingsley Nwokocha, State
Accountant General (AG ) Deaconess Uju Onyemanam, and Senior Special Assistant on Labour Relations to the state governor, Comrade Godson Anucha.

HAG Uwanna disclosed that when the government, received the striking Judiciary Workers request for the Leave Allowance payment, it was discovered through the Office of the Accountant General ( AG) that part of the components of the Consolidated Salary being paid to judiciary workers, has what is called Leave Bonus, which is also the same thing as the Leave Allowance the Union requested for.

“So we asked the judiciary Workers to provide us with evidence that there is no component of leave bonus in their salary.

” The Office of the Accountant General then requested for the details and how they ( Workers ) arrived at the leave allowance, and for them to confirm that they have not earned Leave Bonuses before now, but they have not provided such details till date”.

“So we asked the judiciary to provide us with evidence that there is no component of leave bonus in their salary, because the Office of the state Accountant General, does not have information with regards to what the details of their salary are hence, their salary is handled by the Judiciary arm of Government that JUSUN belongs to.

HAG further disclosed that what government received from the workers on the 13th of March was a notice that the government should either pay them or they will proceed on industrial action by midnight on the 15th of March,”.

The HAG further explained that the Consolidated Salary contains everything emolument of the worker, adding that the JUSUN was requested to provide evidence that its salary does not contain “Leave Bonus”, and assured them that once the Union makes available the document and government confirms it to be true, they (Judiciary Workers ) would be paid within 48 hours.

HAG argued , Consolidated Salary is called Consolidated because everything is consolidated into one and paid in different installments.

“Sometimes we also look at what happens in other states. Our finding is that the Federal government does not pay for leave allowance to JUSUN members in the nation.

“Just like federal government does not pay leave allowance to, for instance, medical doctors or health workers in the federal civil service because of the Consolidated Scheme.

“The state government will pay within 48 hours if it realises that there is no leave allowance or leave bonus as a component of their consolidated salary,” HAG Uwanna maintained.

HAG also addressed the issue of Verification of the Judiciary staff, reporting that the efforts to get them verified have continuously been frustrated by of the state JUSUN, and that their refusal to submit themselves to staff verification, accounts for non payment of Pensions to the staff of the Judiciary prior to their retirement.

HAG recalled ” His Excellency, governor Alex Otti, after he was sworn into office in 2023, commenced a verification exercise for all civil servants.

“And in view of the fact that we understand that the judiciary is independent, the judiciary staff were not verified when every other staff outside the Judiciary, was verified.

“We then engaged the judiciary for the purpose of getting a consultant that will conduct a verification exercise for the judiciary.

“Indeed, on the 15th March, the same day that they went on strike, was the day that was finally slated for the commencement of the verification exercise.

“One therefore wonders, if this was this a coincidence or a well-orchestrated scheme to continue to earn salaries by ghost workers and persons who have questionable credentials?

“JUSUN is aware that His Excellency, governor Otti, is one who is always ready and able to pay workers their entitlements, and he has made that claim by paying every other civil servant,”

HAG consequently lamented that the alleged Judiciary Workers refusal to be verified has affected payment of pensioners who retired from the Judiciary. Hence he called on
the JUSUN leaders to call off the strike to enable the pensioners of Judiciary extraction get verified and begin to receive their pension.

“JUSUN should allow the Judiciary to verify its staff so that those pensioners can be paid. We have had a lot of engagement which time will fail me to explain the process that we have gone through to ensure that there’s proper verification, so that they can come into a system.

“They’re not going to come into executive system. They are going to come into their own electronic platform.

“I would therefore implore them, once again, not to continue to suffer these pensioners. We are all citizens of this state, and the pensioners are entitled to their payment.

“So let them call off the strike, so that this verification exercise can be done, and these pensioners can start earning what is due them” HAG Uwanna re- emphasized

Speaking , the state Accountant General ( Deaconess Njum Onyemanam ) reassured the state government commitment to effecting payments of staff and pensioners on or before the 28th of every month and stressed the need for the Judiciary to submit its documents to enable the release of the funds accordingly.

“The only question that we are asking the judiciary staff today is to provide verifiable proof that they have earned leave allowances that were not paid them over the period.

According to her ( Accountant General ), ” for the judiciary, they need to provide and submit their documentation, and go through the payment process to be able to get their lump sum.

“The Accountant General does not handle the Payroll of the judiciary. The judiciary handles its Payroll. And when they come up to make their demands, raise their payment vouchers, and their payment vouchers go through the process of payment, that is the only time the Accountant General has the legal right to make that pay,” AG Onyemanam explained.

Recently, the Secretary to the state JUSUN, Pastor Chibueze Nwachukwu told The Guardian that beside demanding payment for their Leave allowance, they are demanding full implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary full harmonization of the judiciary workers’ basic salary structure with that of other public servants in the state.

Stressing the importance of harmonizing judiciary workers salary with those of others in the state public service, the state JUSUN Secretary ( Pastor Nwachukwu ), argued that most government workers benefits and allowances are calculated based on workers’ basic salaries hence they ought to be the same/ uniform.

He however clarified that their outstanding leave allowances were not solely incurred under the current Governor Alex Otti, administration who assumed office in 2023, but dates back to the administrations of former governors Theodore Orji and Okezie Ikpeazu.

REPORTED BY GORDI UDEAJAH

Book raises alarm over prevailing high moral decadence in the Society.

By GORDI UDEAJAH

Attention has been drawn to the moral decadence in the country, which scenario was described d as a threat that needs urgent action to address.

The alarm was raised during the public presentation of a book titled “Threats to Societal Values and Advancement”, which was written/authored by Dr. Fineboy Joseph, a lecturer, Director of General Studies, and Associate Dean, Faculty of Special and Management Sciences at Clifford University, Owerrinta, Abia state, who said that it was the level of growing moral decadence in the Society that motivated his writing the book.

High point of the event held at the Adventist Technical Secondary College (ASTEC), Owerrinta, in Isiala Ngwa South LGA of Abia state, was the endorsement of the state governor Dr Alex Otti, of the Labour Party, for a second term in office by ‘Vanguard Movement for Continuity (VMC),’ who described self as a Political Group, stating that a better alternative to Otti, is yet to emerge.

Speaker of Abia State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa, quickly ratified the Group’s endorsement of governor Otti for a second term asserting that Governor Otti deserves a second term because he is performing extremely well, while a second term will enable him to complete his ongoing numerous unprecedented projects across the state that are at various levels of completions.

According to the Speaker, also of the Labour Party, ” unlike before, Abians are now proud of their state and many are coming back home to develop it.
Developments are ongoing in all sectors at the same time hence, he maintained that the Otti governorship is not an option, but one sent and mandated by God to revive Abia state.

Another Speaker , Elder Dr. Kingsley Nwaigburu, who is the General Manager , Abia State, Debt Management Office and Leader, Alex Otti Vanguard Movement for Continuity, said that his group is a big umbrella that has capacity to accommodate every one interested in good governance, believes in Alex Otti and is eager to see him return to power in 2027.

According to him, we have come here in numbers to publicly announce our endorsement of governor Otti for for a second term in office.

” The governor is a gift to Abia, and among other achievements, he was able to defray arrears of salaries and pensions owed workers by previous governments, built hospitals, smart schools, reconstructed forgotten roads and bridges, attracted foreign investors to invest in Abia, addressed insecurity, ensuring that there is ease of doing business in the state”.

BY FERDINAND EKEOMA

A few days ago, the Former Presidential Candidate of African Action Congress (AAC), Mr. Omoyele Sowore was in Abia for a protest he claimed was aimed at demanding the release of the Leader of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Shortly after Sowore left Abia, he began making negative comments about Governor Alex Otti. Sowore claimed that he doesn’t believe in what he called ‘Half Transformation” and subsequently described Otti’s government as a failure.

Unsettled by the avalanche of criticisms and negative reactions from Nigerians that greeted his comment, Sowore obviously felt that his ego has been bruised, and subsequently organized an interview where he indulged in more distortions.

We initially didn’t want to dignify Sowore because his sweeping and reckless statement of “Otti is a failure”, sounded like an intentional jab to create a discussion, however, after his follow-up interview, we thought it appropriate to respond and put the records straight by stating as follows:

1. Sowore was correct when he described Otti as his ‘friend’ though he failed to qualify the relationship. Again we feel his understanding of friendship is questionable. Friendship entails respect and honesty.

When he describes his ‘friend’ as “some guy there” it puts a doubt on the relationship. Given Sowore’s controversial political and activism life, he must have trusted Otti very well before he slept in his house and ate his food when he campaigned in Abia in 2019.

The question Sowore needs to answer is “does this your ‘friend’ know where you live?

2. Sowore claimed that Otti used to maintain a column on his platform and used same to attack serving Governors. This is false. The only Media Platform that had Otti as a Columnist was Thisday Newspapers. Sahara Reporters merely syndicated Otti’s articles as published by Thisday. This is verifiable.

Otti’s columns never attacked any Governor, rather were mainly critical of wrong national political and economic policies and developments while proffering solutions on issue basis.

Sowore also lied when he claimed that he once told Otti that he would come after him if he failed to perform as Governor. There wouldn’t have been anything wrong if Sowore actually said this, but since such a discussion never held, it was misleading for Sowore to fabricate it and present it as something that happened, just to appear as a friend that’s doing his job with professionalism.

3. Sowore claimed he doesn’t compromise standard, but this is a lie. It’s actually Governor Otti who does not compromise standards, which is why he has ignored all the false publications Sowore has used his platform to publish against his government.

The only time Governor Otti had reasons to caution him, was on February 20 this year, when Sowore used his Sahara Reporters Platform to publish a false story that the reason for the postponement of Abia APC Congresses was because Otti had concluded plans to join the APC.

Sowore had no evidence and never spoke to Otti or his aides to know the truth before rushing to publish falsehood. Governor Otti subsequently sent him a message reminding him that using his platform to publish falsehood would bring his credibility into question.

4. Sowore has been accused by many commentators, including his Lagos Comrades who came with him for the protest, of coming to do a hatchet Job against Governor Otti in Abia.

If Sowore denies this, he may need to answer the following questions:

(a)What was the reason for staging a protest in Aba when Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is from Umuahia, which is also the State Capital? Didn’t Operation Python Dance which Governor Otti was at the forefront of condemning in 2017 happen in Umuahia?

Just about a month ago, the family of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu held a memorial service in honor of Kanu’s late parents at their home at Afara Ibeku, yet Sowore didn’t deem it fit to visit their home when he sneaked into Aba for the said protest.

(b)Why didn’t Sowore consider going to Sokoto where Kanu is being incarcerated to protest?

(C) Why did Sowore resort to attacking Otti few hours after leaving Abia, instead of briefing Nigerians, especially Kanu’s supporters on the outcome and impact of the protest?

(d) Couldn’t Sowore have chosen a different date to quietly sneak into Abia, carry out in depth good governance investigation on the performance of Otti so as to be armed with the necessary facts, before making his “Otti is a failure” declaration?

(e) Was Sowore’s visit to Abia without the courtesy of informing his Governor ‘friend’ not an intentional but failed strategy of provocation?

(f) Could it be that Sowore came to Abia to incite violence and breakdown of law and order with a view to serving some hidden external political agenda, but felt angry and disappointed that Governor Otti outsmarted him by providing maximum security cover and ensuring that no one was harassed?

5. Sowore claimed that Otti was upset because people came out to receive him. This hilarious comment is actually an indictment on Sowore. It simply means that Sowore was in Abia for Publicity and Popularity stunt, and not to genuinely call for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s release.
It’s important to remind Sowore that this excitement about nonexistent popularity in Aba amounts to a delusion of grandeur.

If he doubts, let him come and campaign in Aba when he picks his Presidential form, and see the difference between using Nnamdi Kanu’s name as a cover and coming as Sowore.

6. Sowore alleged that Governor Otti paid influencers in Lagos to criticise him. If Otti paid any influencer, Sowore would know, so deep down in his mind, he knew he was lying to himself. He knows that most of the people attacking him know him very well.

Just to further help him, it’s important to remind Sowore that Otti has no paid influencers and is not looking for influencers to pay. Abians and Nigerians love him and are proud of what he is doing in Abia, hence they have collectively chosen to be his influencers and spokespersons.

7. On Sowore’s allegation of “Half Transformation” by Otti, we are glad that he saw some transformation during his few hours stay in Aba, his only problem is that Governor Otti has not achieved full transformation in two years and ten months.

We are convinced he will be speechless by the time he tours the city and speaks to residents.
Governor Otti has never claimed he has transformed Aba or Abia State as a whole, because he knows that it’s a process. He has always stated that these are still early days and that a lot of work still needs to be done.

However, we cannot apologise to Sowore if he is angry and embittered that the Abia masses and Nigerians are praising and celebrating Governor Otti free of charge for the things he has achieved so far.

In the spirit of ‘friendship’ Comrade Sowore needs to be reminded that arrogance and aura of invisibility worn like an expensive apparel can be dangerous and destructive, especially when it is aimed at advancing a self-serving cause that hurts the people and harms their future.

Whatever his agenda is, he is obviously targeting the wrong person and needs to beat a wise retreat.

Ferdinand Ekeoma is the
Special Adviser ( Media and Publicity ) to Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.

March 30, 2026.