Former Commissioner for Information in Abia State, John Okiyi Kalu, has urged Governor Alex Otti to take responsibility for his shortcomings. He made the call as the Chief Press Secretary to the former Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, urged Otti to end his blame game against his predecessor. 
 
Okiyi-Kalu alleged that Otti was trying to use Ikpeazu’s name to justify his alleged incompetence and wickedness toward Abia youths, who were recently sacked from the state civil service. 

The former Commissioner made the allegation while responding to questions from newsmen on a recent statement credited to Abia State Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, who accused Ikpeazu of employing ghost workers and backdating their employment letters.

Okiyi-Kalu said it was laughable that after 100 days in office, Otti’s government does not know that a governor does not sign appointment letters and that the use of BVN has eliminated ghosts from the Abia payroll system.
 
He said: “Under Ikpeazu we had a duly constituted Civil Service Commission, whose job is to screen and recruit workers after waivers have been issued. It appears to me that Otti is no longer making use of this commission because he has employed workers at various levels, including his new Accountant General and they should all have passed through that commission without Otti signing their appointment letters himself.”  

He said Abia has an administration that came to power by accident of “Obi wave” without any plan or roadmap to lead the state in a proper direction. Onyebuchi Ememanka on his own said that in what has become a dangerous obsession, the Otti administration has become incurably unable to do anything without looking for any possible means to blame the Ikpeazu administration, even for things that make absolutely no sense.

“Their latest ploy is to blame the Ikpeazu administration and in particular, former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu for their decision to sack several thousands of workers from the Abia State Civil Service.

“It is disturbing that someone who speaks for a state government is blatantly ignorant of the workings of government. How can actions carried out by a sitting Governor in offering employment to teeming Abians be termed as illegal?”