Abia State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Mike Akpara has revealed that over nine billion Naira has so far been spent on the payment of arrears of pensions in the state.
The Commissioner was responding to questions from newsmen at Government House Umuahia, during the Exco briefing following the State Executive Council Meeting presided over by Governor Alex Otti.
Akpara further explained that the State Government has offset the arrears of pensions as was agreed between it and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners in the State.
“In my capacity at the commissioner for finance, we did have an agreement with the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and to what we agreed, his excellency did exactly what was agreed and I would say also that he did more than we had agreed. “– Akpara declared.
“Everyone knows that it is very difficult in this country now, so for even a government to own up and do what others have not done, even in the past, he deserves commendation.”
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Meanwhile, the State Government has set up a Help Desk in the Ministry of Finance to address issues of those who were omitted in the recent payment of arrears of pensions to retirees in Abia State.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu who disclosed the press briefing, said the Help Desk has become necessary to ensure nobody was left in the arrears of pensions the Governor has defrayed.
The Commissioner also informed that the Governor has directed that henceforth full monthly pensions would be paid to the retirees the same day salaries of civil servants are paid.
“Following the recent pension [arrears] payment to pensioners, his excellency , Dr. Alex Otti OFR, has ordered that our pensioners be paid on the 28th of every month just like the civil servants in the state and they will be their full full pension payment going forward”
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Contributing, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma said the payments are verifiable, adding that the calculations were properly done and the negotiations with the leadership of the pensioners happened without hitches.
“On the truth, the governor had actually mentioned 2014, but from the information I have gathered, we even went beyond 2014, because there were some persons that were owed pension arrears prior to 2014 that were also cleared.”
“All the calculations were properly done and the negotiations with the leadership of the pensioners happened without hitches”
The government’s explanations followed mixed reactions arsing from the payment of backlog of pension arrears in the State.
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