Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The Benue State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed concern over the recent protests embarked upon by retired civil servants in the state who were demanding for payment of their pensions and gratuities.
Recall that despite pleas by Governor Samuel Ortom who personally addressed them on Friday, the pensioners have continued to occupy the Benue State government House for four days now to demand the payment of their 25 months pension arrears.
Addressing newsmen at its Party Secretariat on Saturday, the PDP, through its Chairman, Sir John Ngbede frowned at the dimensions to the protests which he alleged, strongly indicated that the pensioners had fallen hostage to the antics of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state who attempted to use it to score cheap political points.
“As a responsible political organisation run on a people’s oriented manifesto, PDP first and foremost acknowledges that the retired civil servants who rightly must be regarded as senior citizens, are entitled to the statutory emoluments due to them after retirement from service.
“The party is equally aware that those emoluments, when not paid on time, will occasion hardship on the retirees many of who are in advanced stages of lifetime.
“However, it may be necessary for the people at this point to be informed of the basic facts regarding the issues of pension arrears being owed retirees in the state,” Ngbede posited.
He recalled that Governor Samuel Ortom at the inception of his administration in 2015, inherited a cumulated arrears of pensions being owed retirees to the tune of N17. 1 billion out of which it has so far paid over N6 billion.
The PDP Chairman stated that the Ortom’s administration has also paid over N18 billion of pensions and gratuities due to retirees in its own time from 2015.
He added that the administration is still working on ways to pay the arrears of N11 billion being owed the senior citizens from the inherited stock stressing that “this much was reiterated by His Excellency the governor in his speech to the protesting retirees yesterday (Friday).
Ngbede said the difficulties in payment of the arrears and other debts is traceable to shortfalls in funds available to states for, not just purposes of recurrent expenditure, but as well for those purposes of very vital capital expenditure components in the workings of government.
“In Benue State, it is a fact worth commending that the administration of His Excellency, Gov. Samuel Ortom has struck at the heart of the pensions challenge by constituting the Pensions Commission which comprises men and women of proven pedigree, themselves retirees from the civil service.
“The commission which was inaugurated by Gov. Ortom himself only recently is vested with the mandate and task of tackling wholistically issues of pensions to retirees, both in the arrears and on due basis.
“It is therefore a thing of concern that the senior citizens should stage their protests shortly after the inauguration of that commission which is theirs and which they ordinarily should accord some regard by supporting it to commence work before any action on their part.
“By so doing, our respected retirees would have been seen as according the benefit of doubt to the commission and by extension the Ortom administration, which no matter what, they must consider as a partner in progress rather than anything else,” the PDP Chairman enthused.