The two-week-old strike by the Abia State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress to press the government to pay outstanding salaries and pensions to its members will end soon, as the union has assured the in-coming governor, Alex Otti, that it will.
This assurance came after a meeting between the union’s leadership and the state Governor-elect late Friday at Otti’s country home in Isialangwa.
After consulting with its national leadership, the Abia NLC leadership, led by its chairman, Comrade Pascal Nweke, assured Otti, who will be formally inaugurated as the governor of the state on Monday, May 29, 2023, that the gesture would be extended to him.
Responding, Otti reiterated his campaign promise to prioritise the issue of salary payments as well as ensure that the arrears are cleared within the shortest time possible.
The national leadership of the NLC had in February declared an indefinite strike in Abia State to compel Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to offset the backlog of salaries, pensions, and retirement benefits owed civil servants.
However, a few days ago, the Alex Otti Inauguration Committee chairman, Hon Iheanacho Obioma, had pleaded with the union to call off the strike as a sign of good faith and support to the incoming Labour Party (LP) administration.