The 2015 dismissal of several employees of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEP) is under investigation by the State of Abia State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the Recovery of Government Properties.
The panel has heard from Mrs. Charity Ukonu and Mrs. Nnebuihe Onwusoro, the former head of accounting of ASEPA, in response to a petition filed by Mr. Paul Okoli and the fired employees.
While arguing her case, Ukonu stated that her team conducted an ASEPA personnel verification exercise and found out that the petitioners weren’t officially working for the state. She then asked them to show her their employment waiver letter.
According to her, she instructed Chinwengozi Anyaso, ASEPA’s payroll officer, to hold their paychecks pending further investigation into their alleged illegal employment since, as a professional public servant, she understood the implications.
She revealed that the disengaged ASEPA employees were paid three months’ salary when she was asked for questioning by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on state-related matters.
In addition, Mrs. Nnebuihe Onwusoro, a former head of finances at ASEPA, explained that she did not pay the disengaged personnel because it was against public service rules, but rather because she had been instructed to do so by the wage verification committee.
According to Mr. Okoli Paul Tobechukwu, who spoke on behalf of the fired employees, ASEPA duly engaged them.
Tobechukwu brought attention to the fact that the verification committee, which was headed by Charity Ukonu, declined to reinstate him and other disengaged workers, even though the Abia State House of Assembly Committee on Public Accounts had authorized their recall and payment of entitlements.