We didn’t forefiet our gratiuties, pensions to Abia government – Pensioners’ Forum insists

A pressure group known as the Abia Pensioners Forum has appealed to Governor Alex Otti to revisit the issues of pensions and gratuities owed to Abia State pensioners, saying that they did not forfeit their gratuities to the state government.

The group, which addressed the press on Wednesday in Umuahia, said that the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), who claimed to have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on behalf of the pensioners, did not receive any mandate from Abia pensioners to forfeit their gratuities and previously accumulated pensions.

Speaking about the “true position” of things, the Coordinator of Abia Pensioners Forum, Okey Kanu, who was flanked by some of his members, accused the leaders of Abia NUP who entered into the MoA with the Abia State government of allegedly compromising the interests of retirees in the state.

He added that the NUP leadership allegedly hid the documents of its agreement with the government from the eyes and reach of Abia pensioners until the Abia Pensioners Forum stumbled upon the documents recently.

While commending Governor Otti for ongoing projects in parts of the state, they acknowledged that Otti has regularized pension payments in his administration.

However, retirees said that pension arrears inherited from previous administrations have not yet been cleared, contrary to the announcement by the state government.

They called for the payment of their gratuities and the balance of pensions owed by past administrations, which they said should be duly calculated and published.

According to them, their retirement benefits cannot be forfeited but can be paid in installments if the present administration cannot clear them at once, or they can be left for future administrations to pay.

“To tell pensioners that these arrears are no longer existent due to the MoA is highly devastating and unacceptable to pensioners. It would be tantamount to subjecting pensioners to the double jeopardy of many years of delay in these payments after retirement, only now to be told that both statutory entitlements have been forfeited based on the MoA,” Kanu, who is a lawyer, said with disapproval.

The Abia Pensioners Forum said they have written a letter to the governor informing him of their concerns, adding that other prominent Nigerians, including Mr Peter Obi, Catholic, Anglican and Methodist archbishops, bishops, among others, have also been sent letters to intervene in their plight.