By LEONARD OKACHIE

Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has said that some workers, who would be released by the ongoing verification of the civil servants, would be redeployed to teach in the state-owned schools.

Otti disclosed this on Friday night during his monthly media chat at the Government House, Umuahia.

He said that the affected persons would be redeployed to schools after they had gone through a crash teaching programme.

He expressed shock over the large number of civil servants in the state employ, saying that some of them could be released for other things, where they would be relevant.

According to him, somehow we have been under-reporting the number of workers the state has.

He said: “We do not think it is a wise thing looking for teachers, when we have an over-bloated civil service – the number is humongous.

“We can’t sack them. They are civil servants and we don’t even want to sack.

“We want people to get jobs and those that have capacity to teach we can send them to schools because we need teachers.”

Otti also expressed worry over the large number of civil servants attached to the Government House, saying, “and I can’t find what they are actually doing.”

He complained that the number was still much even after the Chief of Staff had redeployed some 235 of them, based on his directive.

The governor, who spoke on a wide range of issues concerning his ongoing efforts to develop the state, denied asking body not sing or recite the Abia Anthem.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Otti was alleged to have stopped the anthem, which was created by the administration of former Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu.

The anthem also became very popular among the residents, especially during government functions and in schools across the state.

But reacting to a question on the stoppage of the anthem, Otti jocularly said: “Nobody handed over Abia Anthem to me.

“So, we didn’t throw away any song or ask anybody not to sing any song.”

Otti also said that his administration had initiated a lot of people-oriented programmes since he assumed office about six months ago.

He said that he had already inaugurated some road projects, pointing out that eight were at different stages of construction.

He hoped that five more roads would be inaugurated before the end of the year.

The governor said that the government was still engaging with stakeholders and would soon make a pronouncement “concerning the welfare and a new minimum wage for civil servants”.

He also spoke about the newly inaugurated Transition Committees for the Local Governments, promising that under the present dispensation, the local governments “will be centres of development rather than for sharing of money”.

He said that unlike the past, the councils would receive more money and could also generate their own revenue to embark on projects to transform their areas.

He explained the rationale behind his choice of billionaires as mayors in the 17 LGAs, saying, “we chose them because they are people who are not looking for what to eat”.

He said that the state Joint Allocation Committee (JAC) as a creation of the Constitution could not be legislated away.

“JAC will still exist and the Local Governments will get more money.

“They can also generate more money to develop their areas,” the governor said. (NAN)

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