Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has appealed to the striking workers of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba to end their action, with a promise to resolve their salary payment.
The governor, who was represented by Felix Chinwendu, his Special Adviser on Health Matters, made the appeal on Monday while addressing the workers.
Ikpeazu regretted that the workers were owed for many months and that the salaries were slashed when eventually paid.
He said: :It is not acceptable for a worker to be working while he is owed for five months and when he is getting his salary, he is paid N400.00, N500.00 or N1,000.
“It is wrong if what I heard is correct.
“The mistake will be reversed soon.
“I apologise on behalf of the people who made the mistake but understand that nobody is above mistake.
“Such a problem will not occur again in the teaching hospital and I promise that it will be reversed soon.”
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Nwachukwu Kanu, told the workers to remain calm and listen to the appeal of the governor to know the next move.
On his part, a former Secretary of the Abia State Medical and Health Workers Union, Ogbonnaya Hinayana, said the workers were protesting the cut in their salaries.
Hinayana said they were owed for five months from January and that when the salaries were paid, it was for one month, which was badly slashed.
Similarly, a member of the union, Uche Ezekiel, said since November 2015, his salary had not been paid.
Ezekiel said after six months, he was paid N24,000 for January as his level 12 salary, describing it as a far cry from what he earned previously.
The workers appealed to the government to solve the problem quickly to enable them meet their financial obligations.
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