Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has approved a 25 per cent salary increase for eligible workers of the state House of Assembly and the Assembly Service Commission.
The new salary arrangement will take effect from January 2027, making Abia the first state in the South-East to adopt the Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS) for its parliamentary workers.
The approval was announced on Wednesday by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Njoku Ukoha, in a statement. He explained that the decision followed recommendations submitted by a committee established to develop a plan for implementing the salary structure.
CONLESS is a salary framework designed for workers in the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly and their respective service commissions. However, several states are yet to implement the arrangement despite repeated calls from legislative workers.
Reacting to the development, the Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) praised Otti for approving the salary adjustment but called on the state government to extend similar benefits to other public sector workers.
The organisation’s Executive Director, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, said the decision was a positive move towards improving workers’ welfare, reducing salary differences and strengthening the administration of the legislature.
However, he urged the governor to ensure that workers in other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) also benefit from improved salary conditions.
Nwafor identified teachers, medical personnel, local government employees, administrative staff and other public servants as groups that should receive better pay and improved working conditions.
He acknowledged that legislative workers operate under a different salary arrangement but maintained that this should not prevent other public servants from benefiting from the government’s efforts to improve workers’ welfare.
FENRAD also called on the state government to ensure that the approved 25 per cent salary adjustment is properly implemented from January 2027.
The group further urged the government to make adequate financial provisions for the new salary structure, review workers’ earnings regularly and maintain discussions with labour unions and civil society organisations.
According to the organisation, the quality of governance should not be judged only by road construction, infrastructure projects and government policies but also by how much these efforts improve the lives of workers.
It added that public servants deserve fair treatment, financial stability and working conditions that allow them to live with dignity.