FENRAD Urges Otti to Extend 25% Salary Increase to Teachers, Health Workers

The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) has called on Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, to extend salary improvements approved for legislative workers to other categories of public servants, including teachers, healthcare professionals and local government employees.

The organisation made the appeal following the governor’s approval of a 25 per cent implementation of the Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS) for eligible workers of the Abia State House of Assembly and the Assembly Service Commission.

The new salary structure is scheduled to take effect in January 2027, making Abia the first state in the South-East to adopt CONLESS for parliamentary workers.

The governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Njoku Ukoha, announced the approval in a statement on Wednesday, explaining that it followed recommendations from a committee established to work out the implementation of the salary structure.

CONLESS is the approved remuneration framework for legislative workers in the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly and their respective service commissions. Its implementation has remained outstanding in several states despite demands from parliamentary workers.

Reacting to the development in a statement on Wednesday, FENRAD’s Executive Director, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, commended Otti for approving the salary adjustment, describing it as a positive step towards improving workers’ welfare, addressing pay disparities and strengthening legislative administration.

However, Nwafor urged the state government to adopt a broader approach to workers’ welfare by extending similar improvements to other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

He said teachers, healthcare professionals, local government employees, administrative personnel and other public servants also deserved better remuneration, decent working conditions and adequate institutional support.

While recognising that legislative workers operate under a distinct salary framework, the FENRAD executive director maintained that its implementation should not prevent other public servants from benefiting from the government’s efforts to improve workers’ welfare.

The organisation also called for transparent implementation of the approved 25 per cent adjustment from January 2027, alongside adequate budgetary provisions, regular salary reviews and sustained engagement with organised labour and civil society groups.

FENRAD maintained that good governance should be assessed not only through infrastructure projects and policy announcements but also by how government decisions improve workers’ living standards, dignity and economic security.