Edo Pensioners Threaten to Boycott Guber Election
over Unpaid Arrears
Hundreds of Pensioners under the aegis of Nigeria
Union of Pensioners (NUP), Edo State council, have decried the alleged non-payment
of arrears spanning over 42 months, calling on the state Governor, Adams
Oshiomhole, to immediately address their plight by paying them, vowing not to
vote during the September 10 governorship election if action is not taken.
Pensioners in the state have been having a running battle
with the state governor, over pensions arrears among other demands, which
apparently led to the death of one pensioner during their peaceful protest recently.
Reacting to the latest protest, the state Commissioner for
Establishment and Special Duties, Didi Adodo, said the Oshiomhole-led
administration inherited pension and gratuity arrears from 1998.
Adodo who disclosed this to journalists said the arrears of
these gratuity and pension have been cleared to 2011 by the present
administration.
He said the governor deserved commendation and not
condemnation on issue regarding workers welfare, especially the pensioners.
He also revealed that Oshiomhole rescinded an
earlier decision to pay pension and gratuity of only those who retire under his
administration by clearing the backlog left behind by the government of Chief
Lucky Igbinedion.
The commissioner who acknowledged that some
pensioners were being owed arrears, however, said it was not true that some
were owed arrears of about 42 months.
"People should know that Oshiomhole government has done
more to ameliorate the plight of pensioners in the state than any other
government.
"Thousands of pensioners, including those of the
military government of Adamu Iyang and Igbinedion, who retired without being
paid any gratuity and pension by these administration.
"When Oshiomhole came in, he jettisoned the plan
of paying only those who in his government. He started by paying from 1998, and
as I speak, we have cleared the backlog up to 2011.
"We were currently working on the batches, before the
pension board was dissolved. In another week, these people will receive their
entitlements.
"I don’t know where this issue of being owed pensioners
42 months arises from. It is true that we owe some few months arrears and not
as been exaggerated to 42 months.
"Moreover, the pensioners should be majorly blamed
for these arrears because most of them do not fill their papers on time.
"The fact is that the law says someone planning
to retire should fill their papers six months before the retirement date. But
what we experience is that most them don't until they are finally retired. Some
even do so years after retirement,” he stated.
However, the protesting pensioners during a street
protest, brandished various placards with inscriptions such as ‘Give us our
Pensions Benefits’, ‘Pension Benefits Are Economic and Human Rights of
Retirees. Pay us for God Sake’, and ‘No Vacuum in Govt, Open Pension
Board/Bureau’.
Leading the aggrieved pensioners during the protest, the
state chapter of NUP State Public Relations Officer (PRO), Vincent Aigbodion,
said the challenge before the pensioners is how to fend for their families as
they alleged that the state government indebtedness to pensioners is worrisome
following the alleged non-payment of pension arrears spanning seven to 42
months.
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