Abia Governor-Elect Cautions Ikpeazu Against Employment Racketeering In State Civil Service

Abia State Governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti,  has warned the outgoing government of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu against employment racketeering allegedly going on in the Abia State Civil Service.

Otti, who won the recently concluded governorship election in the state,  in a statement through his special adviser on media and publicity, Mr Ferdinand Ekeoma,  on Wednesday said he got reports that a “bazaar of illegal employment” was going.

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He alleged that employment was going on in different ministries and agencies of the government, with all the employees being issued backdated employment letters.

The statement further revealed that those in charge of the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) are also involved in fake recruitment exercise.

The statement read in part:”The attention of the Abia State Governor-Elect, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, has been drawn to the employment racketeering presently going on in the Abia State Civil Service ahead of the expiration of the tenure of the present government.

“Confirmed reports backed by empirical evidence show that there’s presently a bazaar of illegal employment going on in different ministries and parastatals, with all the so-called employees being issued with backdated employment letters.

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“We ordinarily would not have bothered to go beyond calling on the state government to take decisive actions against its agents and enablers of this heist since we have a duly constituted government with a running tenure that ends on the 29th of May 2023. However, we have it on good authority that senior government agents are culpable in this.

“For example, those in charge of the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB) in the state are directly involved in the fake recruitment which saw dozens of people troop in and out of ASUBEC on March 28, 2023 with the false assumption that they have been employed.

“This action which is geared towards laying a needless landmine for the in-coming government of Alex Otti, has shown how unpatriotic and selfish the perpetrators are.

“It has also shown how brazenly audacious some political actors could be in advancing selfish political agenda that retards development and harms the interest of the generality of the people.

“We therefore wish to call on all those involved in this act of illegality, especially civil servants in the Abia State Civil Service who are directly or indirectly involved in this crime to please back out of it, as we also call on government to rise to the occasion”.

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