Retirees protesting non payment of pension and gratuities at Government House Asaba. |
What did the
leadership of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Delta
State do with N5.9 million unremitted deduction that accrued during the zero
allocation era to the Local Government Pension Bureau?
This is the
puzzle that local government and primary school retirees in Delta State are
asking Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to help them to unknot as they seek intervention
of the state government during a long protest procession on Tuesday, September
8, 2020.
In the
protest which took them to the House of Assembly where they met a locked gate
and the Government House, Asaba where security operatives prevented them from
gaining access through the locked gate, the aged men and women, otherwise
called senior citizens who have retired from service having served 35 years or
attained 60 years of age in service, they made a save our souls call to the
governor and the speaker of the House of assembly, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori,
urging them to intervene urgently and save them from undue delay in the payment
of their retirement benefits.
In their SOS
to the Speaker, signed by Comrade Mode Augustine and Sir Henry Tukpe, they
asked: “What then could be the reasons(s) for retirees in the local government
and /primary schools in Delta State to be denied access to funds they
contributed to from their salaries to save for old age after over four to five
years after retirement.”
Reeling out various
financial statistics to drive home their points, the retirees said it had
become necessary for the government to look into their grievances and that one
measure that could be used to assuage their feelings is to compel the state
leadership of ALGON and the Accountant General to pay the sum of N5.9 billion
unremitted deductions that accrued during the zero allocation eras. This
prompted observers to ask: What did the Delta State ALGON leadership do with
the accrued N5.9 billion unremitted deductions? And where is the money?
In a letter
addressed to the Speaker and signed by Chief (Mrs.) Ejieh Helen C, Chairman
Association of Contributory Retirees (ACR) and Prince Etuwede G.U., secretary, with
copies made available to journalists, the retirees stated: “Between May 2015
–January 2017, a period of 21 months, nobody was paid his/her gratuity/pensions
in the local government/primary school in Delta State. This situation led to
the protest which was embarked on 3rd October, 2017. During the
protest the Head of Service met with the Executive members of our Association
and assured us that His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has promised to
remember the retirees when the Paris Fund is remitted to the state.
“Between
2017-2018, the Paris Fund that came to the state, none was paid to Local
Government Bureau, for our gratuity/pension benefits.
“To worsen
the situation, since the local government became autonomous, we became hopeful
but unfortunately the opposite is the case. All the monies sent to the local
government by the Federal Government to pay the local government primary school
retirees in the month of June 2019 till date, that would have paid so many
retirees has been withheld by the Association of Local Governments (ALGON).
“Consequent
on this premise, we decided to write to the Local Government Bureau, the
Chairman of all Chairmen of Delta State Local Government Council (ALGON) and
His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, through the Head of Service, Delta
state to express our displeasure and plead for increase in the amount remitted
to Local Government Bureau to cover more retires. All our plea was not listened
to and as a result, we planned for another protest on the 14th of
July, 2020.
“When the
Head of Service heard about our planned protest, he invited us to his office on
26th June, 2020. There, we resolved not to go on the protest slated
for 14 July, 2020 on the ground that our request will be looked into on or
before the date of the propose protest.
“Till now
the government has not done anything concerning all our plea and demands. The
most annoying thing is that we all live in the same state and go to the same
market. Our counterparts in government public schools who retired in 2018 have
received their gratuity and receive pensions monthly. Why is the government
treating us with disdain? A large number of our retirees have died and some
have suffered ill-health unduly as a result of the delayed payment.”
No comments:
Post a Comment