The Abia State House of Assembly on Tuesday approved a loan of N30 billion for the purpose of paying the arrears of salaries owed civil servants and other sundry needs of the state.
Chief Martins Azubuike, the House of Assembly Speaker, announced the approval during its plenary in Umuahia.
According to him, the lawmakers took the decision following a request from the state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, for the assembly to give a legislative backing to the loan.
Azubuike explained that the loan was necessitated by the fall in international crude oil price, the drop in the federal allocation, as well as the state’s dwindling internally generated revenue.
The loan, he further said, would help the state government to implement the 2015 budget, as well as clear the outstanding salary arrears owed the workers.
The Speaker added that the governor’s letter also indicated that the loan would also be deployed to rehabilitate and construct roads, dredge the Aba River and construct Aba drainage channels.
Azubuike said that, in addition, the money would be used for the construction of new hospitals in the three senatorial zones of the state.
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