Abia Pensioners Declare Fasting And Prayers Over Unpaid Gratuities
On Wednesday, Abia State pensioners called off their three-day fast and prayer, urging Governor Alex Otti to fulfill his electioneering pledge to reimburse them for their gratuities and pension arrears.
Speaking under the aegis of Abia Pensioners’ Forum, Okey Kanu said the prayer session was a way of “seeking the intervention of Jesus Christ” and engaging God to prevail on Otti to “restore and pay our arrears of pension and gratuity as promised during the campaign in 2015, 2019, and 2023.”
He said, “On coming into office, this administration purported to have waived or forfeited the said arrears of pension and gratuity, sequel to the illegal memorandum of agreement it purportedly signed with the state NUP exco.
“We believe that our governor is toeing the current line based on wrong advice; hence our continued plea that he should revisit and rescind the same.
“It is a mark of godliness and strength rather than weakness. We are encouraged to agitate for this because this is our government, as pensioners, their families and indeed all Abians sympathetic to our plight played a major role in bringing it to being.
“Our grievance stems from the government’s position that we waived or forfeited these retirement benefits sequel to the said Memorandum of Agreement.
“But at the same time, the government has refused to comply with Paragraph 7(a) of the agreement which stipulates that in case of any dispute arising from the agreement, the parties shall meet to resolve the same by mutual negotiation.
“The government has refused to convene a meeting in this regard.”
He noted that the meeting was important because the state Nigeria Union of Pensioners executive had denied entering into any agreement with the government to forfeit pension arrears and, especially, gratuities.
“The strange position adopted by the government as revealed by the governor during his last media chat on 7/11/2024 is that before the agreement can be revisited, the state NUP must return the money paid to them.
“This pronouncement is vague because it is unclear if the government meant the arrears accumulated by the present administration as paid in March 2024 or any other money paid to the state NUP Exco.
“If the former, it is misconceived because what was paid to pensioners in March 2024 was the arrears owed them as accumulated by the present administration.
“The greater part of the arrears remain untouched; hence our agitation for the same to be paid.
“However, if the latter is the position, then the payment is illegal as it is construed to be a bribe in which case the giver and receiver are liable. This does not in any way concern pensioners,” Kanu said.
The pensioners begged the government to either pay the promised pension and gratuity arrears in full or, in the event that the government lacked the funds to do so all at once, to pay them in installments, as is the case with the state’s tertiary institutions.
Pastor Success Obinya of the City Liberation Center, Aba, had earlier prayed to God to intervene and guide the elderly people back to the correct path while he was reprimanding them.