Retired primary school teachers protest nonpayment of pension arrears

• Okorocha moves against monarchs implicated in verification deals 
Retired primary school teachers in Enugu State have lamented backlog of pensions running into 27 months being owed them since 2004.
Elsewhere in Imo, the State’s Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has threatened to deal ruthlessly with, and possibly dethrone, traditional rulers found culpable in shady deals associated with the recent verification exercise for pensioners.

The protesting pensioners in Enugu also disclosed that some of them had not received their gratuity after retirement in 2002, even as they blamed the huge backlog on the immediate past administration of the state.

The retired teachers from the three senatorial zones made known their woes when they paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Edward Ubosi, in his office yesterday.
A delegation of the retired teachers led by their chairman, Matthias Onovo and the secretary, Ben Nwachi disclosed that they had written relevant authorities in the past without any positive result saying that the lack of payment of their pension and other entitlements has led to the death of many of their colleagues.

They said that having exhausted every avenue possible to see that the past administration paid them their due, they resorted to calling on the Speaker to bail them out.

They listed other grievances to include harmonisation arrears, 6, 15, and 33 percent pension increases; irregularities in payment of monthly pensions, and non-implementation of promotion received after retirement among others.
Ubosi assured the retired teachers that something would be done to alleviate their plight saying that, “your labour will never go in vain. You have laboured and you deserve to be paid”.
The speaker said that they came at the right time when the government had set up an audit committee of the local governments, pointing out that the issue of teachers as well as their pensioners were part of the terms of reference given by the governor.
He thanked them for making the submission that would serve as a guide to the audit committee set up by Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi led administration to look into the rot in the councils with a view to making them viable.

And, for alleged involvement in registering ‘ghost’ pensioners during last week’s community–based verification exercise, the Imo State Government is set to punish some monarchs allegedly ‘caught in the act.’ Okorocha threatened to dethrone some of them.

The governor, who disclosed this at the Heroes Square, Owerri, during an interaction with teachers in the state, regretted that those caught sabotaging the state, would be dealt with. “This is fraudulent and a sabotage against the state. Some were caught registering dead and fake pensioners,“ he alleged.

Okorocha, who wondered why a traditional ruler with a crucial task entrusted on him would turn against the trust, stressing that the state government would not sweep it under the carpet. According to him, “government had taken a decision to fish out more ghost pensioners under the payroll to save the burden, through the verification scheme, using the monarchs in the 637 autonomous communities in the 27 Local Councils of the state.

In another development and disturbed by the quantum of suffering encountered for alleged non-payment of their pensions ranging from 10 to 23 months, some retirees took the matter to the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord (CATOL), Owerri, presided over by Bishop Cyril Okorocha, seeking God’s intervention.
Led by Fabian I. Agba, 80 of the pensioners had barely a month ago stormed the Assumpta Catholic Cathedral, Owerri, on a similar mission, where the Archbishop of the Owerri Ecclesiastic Province, Anthony J. V. Obinna, prayed for them.

Speaking at CATOL’s ‘thanksgiving and prayers’ session, Agba said their demands for their pensions was legitimate and constitutional, Responding, the cleric said it was unfortunate that some leaders in government had sold their conscience.