Pensioners In Benue Appeal To Government To Settle 33-Months Arrears

The National Union Coalition of Aggrieved Pensioners in Benue has appealed to the state government to pay them their pension arrears for 33 months.

The union, who appealed on Friday, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Akosu Orban and Secretary Mac Mtsur, said that only six months out of the 33 months pension arrears owed them, were inherited from the previous administration and the remaining 27 months were a creation of the present administration.

“We were paid the November 2018 arrears on September 9, 2020, and on November 18, 2020, we were paid December 2018 pensions.

“Also, on January 11, 2021, we were paid January 2019 and on May 14, 2021, we were paid February 2019.

“On July 17, 2021, we were paid March 2019 and on September 10, 2021, we were paid April 2019. Since then, there has been no further payment till date,” the union said

The union wondered why pension arrears were rising despite the claim that N700 million was  released monthly for pension payment by the government.

“It is saddening to note that we are dying daily, as most of us are on special diet and drugs, but cannot even afford the funds to maintain ourselves.

“Some of us have become beggars, scavengers, refugees, fugitives and destitute.

“If this inhumanity to man meted to us persists, we may be forced or tempted to use our numerical strength and adopt a different strategy to our problem,” the union warned.

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom, in a statement signed by his Acting Chief Press Secretary,  Nathaniel Ikyur, said that his government had an agreement with the leadership of the pensioners.

“Since then I have been paying the sum of N700 Million to the pensioners in the state. Out of this amount, N300 million is paid to the local government pensioners and N400 million to state pensioners every month.

“This mode of payment has been in effect in the last six months and the government intends to continue with it until we can stabilise the payment system,” he said

The Governor further stated that the state government had domesticated the National Pension Commission’s law to serve as a permanent solution to issues of retiring civil servants.

“This means that when people retire from the public service, the challenge of waiting on government will not arise. They will be paid by their respective pension Administrators as soon as they retire,” he said.