In the letter to Governor Okorocha and endorsed by the state NUP
chairman and Principle Secretary, Gideon Ezeji and Livinus Ashiegbu,
respectively, the NUP said “The pensioners of Imo state say capital No to any
partial payment of our pensions and gratuities.
You Excellency is hereby
reminded that monthly pensions, gratuities and arrears of pensions are the only
wealth that most pensioners have in the whole wide world. Writing off any
percentage of their arrears of pension means writing off their entire life. We
plead with you to continue to pay us 100 percent of our monthly pensions and
gratuities in full and leave the rest to posterity if all the arrears cannot be
paid.”
Similarly, national headquarters of NLC in its reaction,
expressed disgust over the proposal.In its letter to the governor dated December 2 2016, the NLC
threatened to embarrass the state government if went ahead to implement the
proposal and suggested that the state government should rather seek dialogue
with the NUP. In its circular of December 9 2016, the state NUP said “the
labour’s of our heroes past shall never be in vain. In keeping with section
210(1) of the Nigeria constitution, our pension shall not be with-held or
altered to the disadvantage of the pensioners, except to such an extent as is
permissible under any law.
We demand that our pension be paid monthly and
regularly before or alongside the payment of the salaries of workers. Since the
constitution provides that pensions shall not be altered to the disadvantage of
the pensioners, we demand 100 percent payment of monthly pensions, arrears and
our gratuities.” Piqued with the development, Pensioners in all the states of
South East, in solidarity to their colleagues in Imo state, have taken up arms
with Governor Okorocha’s over the matter.
The pensioners described Okorocha’s planned to slash the
entitlements as preposterous and smacks of mischief. At a briefing in Enugu,
leaders of the NUP in the South East rejected the plan totally. Chairman of the
Imo State NUP, Gideon Ezeji, said the action was the worst exploitation any
administration could unleash on its subjects. There is no immediate end in sight to the protracted battle
between Imo State Government and Pensioners in the state over unpaid benefits
as Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and pensioners in the South East, have taken
up arms against Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo. Protest against PMS price hike in Abuja.
The government owed the pensioners 22 months arrears of pension
and brought a plan to make the pensioners forfeit 10 months of the arrears,
leaving the government with only 12 months to pay. The senior citizens accepted the plan as a sacrifice in the
interest of other segments of the state. But while they were waiting for the payment of the reduced
pensions arrears, to their surprise, the government allegedly came up with another
plot to force them to accept 40 percent payment of the 12 months after a waiver
of 10 months was accented into.
By November this year, when the pensioners were getting set to
celebrate Pensioners day, unknown to them, the state government had printed
forms to be signed by each pensioner to accept the 40 percent payment.
Obnoxious proposal
In one of such forms sighted by Vanguard and titled ‘Letter to
set off in respect of My outstanding Pension arrears,’ the content of the
letter reads: “I,…. of…LGA, a pensioner, having retired from….on salary grade
level…with a monthly pension of… “Being owed arrears of pension for 12 months
which amounts to 562,449.60 (for instance) do hereby accept to collect 40% of
the said arrears which amounts to 224,979.84 which represents the total
accumulated arrears due to me up to December 2016, as full and final settlement
of all other claims of which I am entitled to make against the state government
in respect of the said accumulated pension arrears.”
Confounded by the proposal, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners,
NUP, in the state wrote to the governor, rejecting the proposal and berated
such obnoxious proposal. Ezeji said “We were owed 22 month arrears, he
(Okorocha) said he will pay for only 12 months, yet he went ahead to say he
will now pay only 40 percent of the 12 months and that we will forfeit 60
percent. We wrote to the Imo State government and said no, you don’t make
illegal laws against the senior citizens of the state. A lot of pensioners have
died because there was no money for medication. In an instance both husband and
wife died same day. If apeople keep quite while we languish.”
Corroborating, NUP National Trustee for South East, Anwuobi said
the leadership of NUP in the zone was asking Governor Okorocha to respect the
law and pay 100 percent of the pension, noting that contrary to labour laws,
the pensioners had not received any increment in their pension since the year
2000.
According to him: “We have not been receiving our gratuities,
yet Okorocha reduced 40 percent from the pension. The last time Imo State
government paid pension was in August 2015. Since he came into administration, he has conducted verification
five times and the Nigeria Labour Congress has written to the government to pay
us yet he has been adamant.”
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