The Abia State Government says it has spent over N9 billion to offset accumulated pension arrears in the state.
The Commissioner for Finance in the state, Mike Apara, disclosed this on Tuesday in Umuahia, the state capital, at a press briefing after the State Executive Council Meeting, ThisDay newspaper reported.
Mr Apara, however, said the amount might still increase because pensioners that had issues during the verification exercise could be sorted out later and consequently paid like others.
The finance commissioner explained that the pension payment covered both the arrears that piled up from 2014 and the balance of half payments the retirees received within the past nine months.
|
---|
“We had an agreement with the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and His Excellency (Governor Alex Otti) did exactly what we agreed. And the agreement is to pay the arrears of pensions and that is exactly what the government has done and they (pensioners) are happy about that,” Mr Apara said.
The commissioner said the retirees agreed to forfeit some percentage of the arrears to make it easier for the government to clear the inherited debt to the pensioners.
“Everybody knows that things are hard, so for a government to even own up and do what others have not done in the past deserves applause,” he said.
He stressed that some of the pensioners got as much as N8 million, adding that offsetting the pension arrears was not a “mean feat” for the government.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Culture in the state, Okey Kanu, said the state government was committed to making sure that no retiree was left out in the payment of pension arrears.
Mr Kanu said that a help desk had been set up in the ministry of finance to address all issues arising from the exercise, including those that their names might have been omitted.
The information commissioner said Governor Otti had made it mandatory that, going forward, retirees in the state must be paid their full pensions at the same time that civil servants receive their salaries on or before the 28 every month.
Contributory pension
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Kanu, during the press briefing, also announced that the government has adopted the contributory pension scheme for its civil servants to prevent a repeat of the pension crisis of the recent past which led to the “mountainous” arrears.
Read also: abia govt to introduce new pension scheme for civil servants
“The state government has concluded plans to introduce a contributory pension scheme for Abia civil Servants.
“The plans for establishing the scheme have gone very far and very soon we would start the cutover to a contributory pension scheme,” he said.
Governor Otti had in his Easter message to the people of Abia State directed that payments of monthly salaries and pensions must take precedence above monthly entitlements of political office holders.
“As a rule, political office holders will only be paid after our obligations to our senior citizens and civil servants have been fulfilled in full,” the governor had said.
Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility
At Premium Times, we firmly believe in the importance of high-quality journalism. Recognizing that not everyone can afford costly news subscriptions, we are dedicated to delivering meticulously researched, fact-checked news that remains freely accessible to all.
Whether you turn to Premium Times for daily updates, in-depth investigations into pressing national issues, or entertaining trending stories, we value your readership.
It’s essential to acknowledge that news production incurs expenses, and we take pride in never placing our stories behind a prohibitive paywall.
Would you consider supporting us with a modest contribution on a monthly basis to help maintain our commitment to free, accessible news?
Make ContributionTEXT AD: Call Willie - +2348098788999