ABIA opens a support desk for names that are missing from pension payments.
In order to resolve omissions and other concerns resulting from Governor Alex Otti’s recent payment of arrears in pensions to retirees in Abia State, the Abia State administration established a Help Desk in the Ministry of Finance.
Prince Okey Kanu, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, revealed this on Tuesday during a press briefing in Umuahia regarding the results of this week’s Executive Council meeting.
According to him, the Help Desk is essential to guaranteeing that no retiree is unaccounted for in the pension arrears that the governor has covered.
According to Prince Kanu, the government has mandated that retirees get their entire monthly pension on the same day that state public personnel receive their paychecks.
Kanu stated, “The Ministry of Finance has established a Help Desk that would handle concerns resulting from cases of people whose names were missed. This is in response to certain issues related to the payment of pension arrears in the state. To make sure that everything goes well is the main goal.
“His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, has ordered that the pensioners be paid on the 28 of every month, just like civil servants in the state, following the recent pension payment to our pensioners.”
The commissioner also declared that the state government has completed its preparations to implement a Contributory Pension Plan for state employees.
He said that the 3.5-kilometer Osisioma-Ekeakpara road in the state’s Osisioma Local Government Area has been cleared for rebuilding by the state government. He also disclosed that cement pavement technology will be used throughout the reconstruction process to ensure the road’s longevity.
Speaking further about the pension problem, Mr. Mike Akpara, the Commissioner for Finance, revealed that the state has already spent over N9 billion on paying pension arrears. He also stated that the whole pension was paid in accordance with the terms set out with the Nigerian Union of Pensioners in the state.
“With the NUP, we had an agreement, and His Excellency fulfilled it exactly,” he declared. And as per the agreement, the government must pay the pension arrears, which it has done with satisfaction.
“A government deserves praise for acknowledging the difficulties it faces and taking action that others have not, even in the past. It’s not cruel since some folks received up to N8 million.
Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, Abia State governor’s special advisor on media and publicity, stated that the payments are verifiable, the calculations were done correctly, and the talks with the pensioners’ leadership went off without a hitch.
“We took it to the extreme. It’s true that the governor had mentioned 2014, but based on the information I’ve gathered, we even went beyond 2014, as we also cleared some pension arrears owed to some individuals who were owed prior to 2014,” the governor stated. It is not based on parity.
“The names of those experiencing problems are already being compiled by the Commissioner for Finance and the Accountant General, and all of those problems will be fixed.”
The state is prepared for the next ANPA free medical mission, according to Commissioner of Health Dr. Ngozi Okoronkwo, who also mentioned that the initiative is attracting a greater number of potential patients.
The increased amount, she continued, would equate to doing around 25 procedures every day.
Taking advantage of the occasion, Dr. Okoronkwo announced that the state had received approval from the Nursing Council to train individuals in a two-year certificate program that would produce practitioners in the community healthcare system, helping the staff members serving in the communities to provide healthcare to the public.
