Maureen Edozie in Enugu
The Enugu State Government has uncovered 2,640 ghost names and deceased pensioners on its payroll, and this followed a recent verification of pensioners carried out by the Pension Verification Authority which exposed the anomalies
Penpushing reports that the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof Chidiebere Onyia, made this known explaining that in another development the government has commenced payment of pensions to local government retirees in the state.
The Secretary to the State Government added that the payment was in line with the promise of Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities inherited by his administration.
Penpushing further reports that Onyia disclosed that over 7000 local government pensioners had since received their pensions for August, adding that the payment followed the Governor’s approval of the recommendations of the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee, which conducted the verification exercise.
The government scribe said this will improve people’s standard of living, raise purchasing power and promote strong and sustainable economic growth in the state, adding that, in July, a total of 7109 local government pensioners received their monthly payments, totalling about N500 million.
Penpushing also reports that he stated that the 7109 pensioners included 989 newly registered entrants who retired between April 2022 and April 2024 but were not accommodated in the pension scheme, just as he expressed disappointment that there was high-level fraud in the state’s pensions system.
The Secretary to the State Government explained that the record provided by the Local Government Pensions Board indicated that the state had been paying over 8760 local government retirees as of April 2024 against the 7109 verified pensioners.
Penpushing reports that Onyia emphasised the state government’s commitment to clear all arrears assuring that the payment mode adopted by the government would guarantee that backlogs were phased out within the timeline set out by the government.
‘This administration will continue to support our citizens, particularly our senior citizens who dedicated their time and energy serving the state. We will soon phase out all arrears inherited by the administration’, he said.
Penpushing further reports that he said the state government was reforming the pension system by making strong institutional policies that can prevent corrupt people from finding their way into the scheme.
The Secretary to the State Government disclosed that the government has been able to digitalise the institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment transparent, accountable and traceable.
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