Enugu uncovers 2,640 ghost pensioners, pays 7,000 retirees

The Enugu State Government, on Sunday, announced the commencement of the payment of local government retirees’ pensions.

A statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said over 7,000 eligible pensioners had received their payments following a thorough biometric verification process.

Onyia said the verification exercise, conducted by the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee, had identified and eliminated 2,640 ghost and deceased pensioners who were still receiving payments.

The move was part of the administration’s efforts to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities inherited from previous governments, ensuring that legitimate retirees receive their deserved benefits, the statement indicated.

“Recall that Governor Peter Mbah had earlier promised that his administration was poised to eradicate poverty in the state by clearing inherited backlog of pensions and other liabilities, and also keep up with its current fiscal responsibility to the citizens, among other measures. This will improve our people’s standard of living, raise purchasing power and promote strong and sustainable economic growth in the state,” the SSG said.

He added that a total of 7109 local government pensioners received monthly payments of close to half a billion naira in July, including 989 newly captured entrants who retired between April 2022 and April 2024 but were not accommodated in the pension scheme.

The SSG, who frowned on the level of fraud in the pensions system, said the record provided by the Local Government Pensions Board indicated that the state had been paying over 8,760 local government retirees as of April 2024 against the 7109 verified pensioners.

Reiterating the government’s commitment to clearing all pension arrears, Onyia stressed that the payment mode adopted by the state would guarantee that backlogs were phased out within the timeline set out by the government.

“This administration will continue to support our citizens, particularly our senior citizens who dedicated their time and energy to serving the state. We will soon phase out all arrears inherited by the administration.

“We are reforming the pensions system through strong institutional policies that would make it difficult for corrupt elements to find their way into the scheme. We have been able to digitalise the institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment transparent, accountable and traceable,” he added.