Abia Assembly approves N30b loan for state government to pay salary arrears

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu requested Abia Assembly to approve N30b loan for state government to pay salary arrears

The Abia State House of Assembly on Tuesday approved a N30 billion loan to enable the state government to pay the arrears of salaries owed its workers.

The Speaker of the assembly, Chief Martins Azubuike, announced the approval during its plenary.

Azubuike said the approval followed a request from Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu for the assembly to give a legislative backing to the loan.

He said that the loan became necessary due to the fall in oil price and the fall in the federal allocation to the state and its poor internally generated revenue.

The speaker said that the loan would help the state government to implement the 2015 budget as well as clear the outstanding salary arrears owed the workers.

He said the governor’s letter also indicated that the loan would also be deployed to rehabilitate and construct roads, as well as to dredge the Aba River and construct drainage channels in Aba.

Azubuike also said it would be used for the construction of hospitals in the three senatorial zones of the state.

In another development, the speaker acknowledged the receipt of two executive bills, including a bill to amend the state’s Security Fund Law 2007 and a bill to establish its marketing agency.

  -NAN