In Abia State , Permanent Secretaries who were forcefully let out of service two years ago by the incumbent administration in the state, have cried out to the governor of the state Dr Alex Chioma Otti to come to their aid over their unpaid entitlements .
Rising from a meeting with the states Head of Service, Mr Benson Ojeikere, in Umuahia on Thursday the 28th day of March 2025 , the Spokes Person of the group a former Permanent Secretary of Government House, Umuahia Mr Nkwachukwu Agomuoh, said they came to have a meeting with the HoS over their present plight occasioned by their unpaid entitlements and to bring it to the state Governor for him to kindly pay them their unpaid entitlements,which included, severance allowance, furniture allowance and gratuity.Mr Agomuoh said they were about 30 Permanent Secretaries who were retired in 2023,without benefits and since then to date,nothing had been paid them even as the economy bites hard, imploring the Governor to intervene on the matter for them to be paid, stating that their present condition is not savoury to say the least .
He thanked the Governor for his earlier promises to pay them, and urged him to ensure that the officials he instructed to carry out the instruction complied.
Mr Agomuo who commended the Governor for his efforts to transform the state, appealed to him to consider their plight.
He said: “Our appeal to our Governor who has been doing so much in so many other sectors, is to consider our plight. Let him consider the fate of those who are deservedly supposed to be in service but were compulsorily retired since 2023 .
“The meeting with the HoS was fruitful and robust. He told us that the Governor has us in his plans. He assured us that our entitlements would be cleared
“We can say we are satisfied with the explanations he has given but we are not satisfied that weeks and months are going, and nothing has happened”.
The affected retired Permanent Secretaries, however, alleged that the Accountant General of the State was behind the delays in the payment of their entitlements.
“We ask the Account General of the State to act without delays. Why hasn’t she done the needful. We are dying. In January, she asked us to submit our relevant papers to enable her to go through. But since then, nothing has happened. And that’s why we are worried, and begging the Governor to intervene on our behalf before things get out of hands.
