By Tosin Ogunyemi
Retired Civil Servants in Rivers State have issued two months ultimatum to the Rivers State government to pay off all the outstanding pensions in the state.
The retired civil servants said failure on the part of Government to comply with the ultimatum would attract legal action.
The State leadership of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners said this in reaction to alleged statement credited to Governor Wike at flag off of road construction at Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government on the 23rd December last year where the Governor denied that the state government was owning the pensioners.
Rising from a state Congress of the Union, the State Chairman of Pensioners, Edward Festus-Abibo pointed out that for over fifteen years since the review of pension, salaries, incomes and wages commission had not been paid.
He complained that every effort to draw the attention of the Governor to the plight of the pensioners had proved abortive.
Abibo further lamented the untold hardships experienced by the pensioners just as called for review of the contributory pension scheme which he said was not favourable to pensioners.
According to him, “Rivers State government is the only government that has refused to pay attention to the increase in pension rate since fifteen years now.
“The Union is very much shocked with Governor Wike’s statement; we want to categorically state that the state government is owing pensioners of this state.
“Respect they say is reciprocal, no matter the level one has attained in life, honour should be given to whom honour is due.
“Some of us trained most of the political leaders, so it is injustice and inhuman for the senior citizens not to be paid their pension entitlements and be respected”, he said.
