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Posted By Admin On May 10th, 2026

Former South-East Councillors Forum have called on governors in the zone to emulate Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and offset the unpaid statutory entitlements of all sets of councillors in their states.

The group’s appeal was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by its Coordinator, David Uka, and Secretary, Chinedu Opara.

The Forum noted that as a result of the constitutional provision that state governments should oversee the running of the local government system, successive administrations at the state level have always leveraged the privilege to encumber the operations of the local government system.

Some of the very well known strategies the state governments have been using for long to make governance and democracy challenging and unattractive at the local government level, according to the group, includes the management of the tier with unelected officials, and the persistent poor treatment of officials elected once in a while.

According to the Forum, across the South-East, the legitimate remuneration and other statutory allowances of elected and even appointed officials are usually not paid in full when in service, while they are largely not paid their severance and other entitlements due to them after exiting office.

“This frustrating situation has always led to a situation where immediately after exiting office, councillors and other elected and appointed officials return home to face poverty, hunger and hardship.

“This unfortunate situation not only makes it extremely difficult for them to take care of  themselves and families, but expose them to  diseases some of which end up claiming their lives, due to their inability to access proper medical care,” the statement said.

The South-East Councillors Forum emphasized that Governor Otti by his decision to pay all sets of former councillors in Abia State, has not only set standards and made history, “but most importantly has restored hope and life to the thousands of the benefitting councillors, the hundreds of thousands that depend on them, and further boosted the state’s economy with the injection of more disposable funds”.

The group called on the other governors in the South-East to borrow a leaf from Governor Otti and muster the necessary political will to once and for all bring the matter to a logical conclusion.

Source: https://dailypost.ng/2026/05/10/emulate-otti-by-offsetting-ex-councillors-entitlements-forum-tells-south-east-govs/