Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha may fancy himself as an agent of change, but his actions betray him as one of those who make change impossible. Reports monitored by Checkpointcharley show that business and social activities came to a standstill in Owerri yesterday as hundreds of old men and women (retirees) were undaunted by an early morning rain as they protested against the non-payment of their pensions by Okorocha’s government.
It was gathered that they have been owed their old age allowances for up to 71 months.The retirees, as pitiable as they looked, were uncompromising as they blocked major roads in Owerri, the capital of Imo State. They shunned all pleas from security operatives to vacate the roads, especially the one leading to the Government House.
Talking to journalists, the state Chairman of National Union of Pensioners, Chief Gideon Ezeji accused Governor Okorocha of not only abandoned pensioners but also turning them to beggars.
“Today, civil pensioners are owed 13-16 months as at May, 2016; Local Government pensioners, 14-17 months; retired primary school teachers, 23-26 months; Imo Broadcasting Corporation pensioners, 36 months and Alvan Ikoku College of Education’s pensioners, 68-71 months. It is indeed outrageous, how senior citizens are treated in the state today.”
Ezeji also said that the state has recalcitrantly refused to harmonise pensions based on the Federal Government pension award of 6% in 2003, 15% in 2007 and 33% in 2011.
He clarified: “We are protesting to refute the claim of the governor that he has cleared 12 years of pension arrears. We categorically state that the governor only paid civil service pensioners three months in July 2011.
“We, therefore, call on the state government to pay us our entitlements. If other South-East states, such Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi without oil revenue are paying their senior citizens, the governor of Imo State should follow suit. We call on the state government to pay the accumulated arrears of pensions immediately.”
When contacted, the Commissioner for Internal Resources and Pension Matters, Vitalis Ajumbe, promised, as usual, that the state would commence the payment of allowances immediately after an ongoing verification exercise.
Many of the protesters however see the verification exercise as a ploy to frustrate the pensioners. One of them asked: “If government claims it is verifying and lodges the money meant for payment of pension in the bank, who gets the interest that accrues at the end of the day? Will that even be accounted for?”
He regretted that those elected to care for the people are so callous that they do not give a damn about the welfare of the people, especially the old as they only try to make money out of the entitlements of workers and pensioners.
cpcnews.org 