Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State Government has dismissed as fake news, reports in the social media that the Accountant General of the State, Njum Onyemenam, was chased out of office Tuesday morning by angry civil servants.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the Governor, Kazie Uko, said that the AG was in attendance at the Abia State 32nd Anniversary Celebration Lecture, which held at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, and was never in the office “as of the time the purveyors of the fake news were busy spreading their falsehood.”
According to the statement, the AG said that she had approached the entrance gate to the annex of the Government House area housing her office and those of some other Government functionaries, when she saw a handful of individuals trying to access the gate but were prevented by security men on duty.
“The Accountant General took an alternative access to get to her side of the compound without any obstruction,” the statement added.
“There was nothing like chasing me out of my office. As a matter of fact, I was not even in the office. I tried driving into the compound and at the same time a few persons, who had been stopped at the gate tried taking advantage of the moment to gain entry into the compound but they were resisted.
“I then chose to access my office through an alternative access point rather than be caught up in a fracas that I don’t know anything about,” Onyemenam explained.
Meanwhile, the Accountant General said that in line with the directive of the state governor, Dr. Alex Otti, to pay workers salaries on or before the 28th of every month, “every civil servant in the state has been paid for the month of August.”
According to her, the salaries were paid on Monday, August 28, 2023.
