IMO UNPAID SALARIES:STUDENTS, PENSIONERS SHUTS DOWN OWERRI

By Chidi Nkwopara & Chinonso Alozie reports:

OWERRI—Traffic was held for several hours, yesterday, in Owerri, especially at the Wetheral/Okigwe Road roundabout, following the peaceful protest carried out by scores of senior citizens in Imo State.

Some of the angry retirees, including the State Chairman of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, Chief G. Ezeji, who defied the heavy downpour experienced in the municipality, told Vanguard that they were prepared to remain at the roundabout for as long as their failing health could allow.

The angry pensioners, who rebuffed entreaties by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Taiwo Lakanu, virtually chased away the Commissioner for Internally Generated Revenue and Pension Matters, Dr. Vitalis Ajumbe, insisting that they wanted to hear directly  from  the governor.

The situation became more complex when students joined the protest, as they equally outlined a litany of their worries. Chief Ezeji narrated how their plight started:

“When the present Imo State government came on board on May 29, 2011, the citizens, including the Imo pensioners whole-heartedly welcomed and supported the government of Governor Rochas  Okorocha.

“On July 18, 2011, he hosted the Imo pensioners at Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, and commenced the payment of three months arrears of pension owed to civil service workers. That was his first act of friendship towards the senior citizens of Imo State.

“He paid the civil pensioners their monthly pension up to December 31, 2014.  As for the local government pensioners, he paid them their monthly pension up to December 31, 2014.  The retired primary school teachers were paid up to March 2014.”

Our challenges

“Ironically, he started owing the civil pensioners from February 2015 and now owes them 16 months from February 2015 to May 31, 2016.  The local government pensioners are now owed 26 months from March 2014 to May 2016.  The IBC pensioners are now owed 36 months. The Alvan Ikoku College of Education retirees are owed 68 months.

“The state government is also not paying gratuities to pensioners that are retiring weekly, monthly and yearly.  The present Imo State government has refused to harmonize pensions based on Federal Government pension award of six per cent in 2003, and 15 per cent Federal Government award of 2007, as well as 33 per cent Federal Government award of 2011.

“The Imo State pensioners are still receiving pensions based on Chief Olusegun Obasanjo minimum wage of N7, 500 awarded on 2000.

“The harmonization arrears accruing from the Abdulsalami Abubakar and Obasanjo awards totaling 73 months are unpaid to Imo pensioners.  The retired permanent secretaries of Imo State are equally suffering with the civil service pensioners in all the problems listed above.”

Genesis of our problems

“When the governor stopped paying us the listed entitlements, we decided to bear with him because of the campaign era and voted for him en masse.  Immediately, after his victory at the poll, the union congratulated him and that was followed by a paid advert in a local newspaper, during his swearing-in as governor for the second tenure.

“The union wrote and enumerated the problems of Imo pensioners to the governor on May 25, 2015. In the said letter, we sought for audience with the governor on June 10, 2015, but ironically the said letter was not acknowledged and audience not granted till today.  On the whole, government only paid about 305 pensioners last October 2015.

“As at today, the pensioners are owed between 16 and 38 months arrears.  All efforts made for governments to change its policy of starving the pensioners to death has not yielded any fruit.

“Retired teachers, retired local government pensioners, civil service pensioners, including Alvan Ikoku College of Education retirees, Imo Broadcasting Corporation, IBC, retirees and retired Permanent Secretaries are suffering untold hardship as a result. A good  number of pensioners have died of hunger and diseases.

Our demands

“The state government verified pensioners in 2011. Again in 2014, during the tenure of the maiden Commissioner for Internal Resources and Pensions, Chief Nick Oparandudu, the Imo Pensioners were verified for the third time in 2015, under the supervision of the Chairman, Local Government Service Commission. That was followed by the 4th verification in all the community government councils.

“Also from November 30,   2015, government verified those that did not benefit from the payment made by the government in October 2015. With these listed verifications conducted by government, it is unfortunate that the same government is still talking of ghost pensioners. We thought that government, through these verification exercises, should by now come up with the list of ghost pensioners it alleged are on its payroll.

“These notwithstanding, the leadership and members of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Imo State, is not against verification provided it goes with payment immediately to physically verified pensioners.  The leadership and members of our union have demonstrated maturity and patience in our present situation. We call on the Imo State government to pay us our entitlements.

“If South East states like Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi without oil revenue are paying their senior citizens, it is incumbent on the governor of Imo State to follow suit. Why cannot Imo pay her citizens?  We, therefore, call on the Imo State government to pay the accumulated arrears of pensions immediately.

Students protest

Meanwhile, the students of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, FEDPONEK, and Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO, have described the state government as being insensitive to their plights.

The students numbering over 900, marched from their various institutions to the state capital,  demanding   that the government should come and make their roads motorable.

They also displayed their placards which read, ‘We are dying here,’ ‘Where is the Rescue Mission?’ ‘Are these institutions not  in Imo State, we are tired of promises,’  ‘Come and repair our roads,’ among others.

Speaking to Vanguard, the Presidents of the Students’ Union Government, SUG, of FEDPONEK and FUTO, Comrades Ike Emmanuel and Ezenwa Obinna, respectively said that they would continue the protest until their demands were not only given attention but also solved.

Source: Vanguard.