…Introduces contributory pension scheme
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State Government said it spent N9 billion to wipe out pension arrears that stockpiled under the watch of previous administrations in the state.
Government also said it had set up a Help Desk in the Ministry of Finance to address omissions and other issues arising from the recent payment of pension arrears.
Recall that Governor Alex Otti, had over the weekend, approved the clearing of pension arrears of Abia retirees running into several months.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu disclosed this while briefing the press in Government House Umuahia on the outcome of this week’s Executive Council meeting.
He said that the Help Desk was necessary to ensure no pensioner was left out in the arrears of pensions the Governor had defrayed.
Prince Kanu further stated that government has ordered that henceforth full monthly pensions be paid to the retirees the same day civil servants in the state receive their pay
“Arising from some issues associated with the payment of arrears of pensions in the state, Ministry of Finance has set up a Help Desk that will address the issues arising from the cases of those whose names were skipped. The whole idea is to ensure that the whole process is smooth.
“Following the recent pension payment to our pensioners , His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti, has ordered that the pensioners be paid on the 28 of every month, just like the civil servants in the state.”
The Commissioner equally announced that the State Government had concluded plans to introduce a Contributing Pension Scheme for civil servants in the state.
He further disclosed that the State Government had approved the reconstruction of 3.5 kilometres Osisioma-Ekeakpara road in Osisioma.
He said that the road would be reconstructed with cement pavement technology to guarantee its duration.
The road leads to the Nigeria National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Depot, Osisioma, from the Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway.
In his contribution, Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Mike Akpara, said that the payment of pension arrears was based on agreement Government had with the leadership of Pensioners in the state.
“We had an agreement with the Nigerian Union of Pensioners and to what we agreed, His Excellency did exactly what we agreed. And the agreement is to pay the arrears of pensions and that’s exactly what the government has done and they are happy about that.
“Everybody knows that things are hard; so for a government to even own up and do what others have not done even in the past, it needs an applause. Some people got up to 8 million Naira, so its not a mean thing.”
Contributing , the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. 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.
“We took it to the extreme and it is true that 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 we also cleared. It is not on equal bases.
“The Honourable Commissioner for Finance and the Accountant General are already collating names of those who are having issues and all those issues are going to be resolved.”
On the free medical mission by the Association of Nigeria Physicians in the Americas, ANPA, slated for April 4, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo assured of the readiness of the State Government to host the exercise.
She added that the number of prospective patients had increased because of massive interest people have shown in the programme.
According to her, the increase in the number of patients, will translate to carrying out about 25 surgeries a day.
The Health Commissioner said Abia State had gotten approval from the Nursing Council to train people on a two year certificate programme that would produce practitioners in community healthcare system who would assist the personnel serving in the communities in providing healthcare to the people.
She said that the Governor Alex Otti-led administration was poised to transform the health sector in the state.
