From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Anambra State House of Assembly has ordered the state’s accountant-general to pay the backlog of entitlements of 78 re-absorbed Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) staff members.
The staff members were re-absorbed into the mainstream of the State Civil Service and Post Primary School Service Commission (PPSSC) in 2014 at which their entitlements were over N41 million.
The Speaker, Mr Uche Okafor who gave the directive after the House passed a resolution through an adoption of voice votes during a plenary session.
The House also directed the accountant-general to uphold and implement the House of Assembly resolution, directing the payment of the unpaid salaries from 2013 to 2014 and leave allowances of 2013 without further delay.
The lawmakers insisted that compliance with the payment of the unpaid salaries and leave allowances be reported to the House within a month from the date of this resolution of the House.
“The Establishment Office of the Head of Service in conjunction with other necessary offices set in motion the machinery for immediate and comprehensive review of the Civil Service Rules of Anambra State (2003) to meet with contemporary times,’’ the House said.
The legislators had at the `Committee of the Whole’, considered the report of the House Committee on Public Petitions, where the recommendations were decided and adopted to form the working document of the House.
However, the staff members were disengaged from service in March 2013 by a former governor’s administration Mr. Peter Obi.
The approval secured for their re-absorption into the mainstream of the State Civil Service and PPSSC by Mr Obi on March 13, 2014, but was executed by Governor Obiano.
The Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions, Mr Emeka Aforka, who presented the report of the committee for consideration and adoption commended the lawmakers for immediate passage of the resolution.