By Adadareporters
Governor Peter Mbah, Wednesday, inaugurated the Committee on Verification and Payment of Outstanding Pensions and Gratuities to State Retirees.
Our correspondent reports that retirees of the state are being owed backlogs of pensions and gratuities running into several months and years in different categories.
The seven-man committee is chaired by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Prof Chidiebere Onyia. The members are the head of service, Kenneth Ugwu; accountant-general of the state, Mr Anthony Okenwa; special adviser to the governor on public finance management, Prof Obiamaka Egbo; state chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Ben Asogwa; state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo; and the chairman, Public Service Joint Negotiating Council, Comrade Ezekiel Omeh.
Governor Mbah said the move was in line with his campaign promise to clear pension and gratuity arrears. He said the combined effects of the payments of the arrears and the normal monthly pensions and gratuities would inject billions of naira into the state’s economy on a monthly basis.
The committee’s terms of reference, according Mbah, are, “To determine and verify outstanding two-month pension arrears to state retirees; determine and verify the outstanding gratuities owed to state retirees; conduct all payments according to months and years of retirement of officers from service; and render monthly and quarterly reports to the secretary to the state government in respect of all payments.
“We did say that our vision is to eradicate poverty in Enugu State. And we are also mindful that in order for us to achieve that, we must target polices that are designed to get to our vulnerable ones and we believe that the best way to deal with the tensions and fragilities is by making sure that we deal with the root causes of insecurity.
“And for us, that means that we have to ensure that there are sufficient funds being injected into the system that can cascade down and our people will have purchasing power.
“We also know that the recent policy of government removing subsidy on petroleum products will certainly have some impacts on our most vulnerable ones.
“It is therefore the state government’s policy to ensure that we put in place measures – immediate, short, medium, and long-term measures – that address the impact of the removal of fuel subsidy.
“For us in Enugu State, we believe that the best way to achieve that is to ensure that our vulnerable ones, our retirees, have access to funds to buy things and maintain a reasonable and dignifying standard of living”.
Recall that the state government, earlier in the week, inaugurated a palliative committee for the procurement, storage and distribution of palliatives to ameliorate the impact of subsidy removal on the vulnerable members of the society.
