On Sunday, the Enugu State government announced the start of pension payment for local government workers in the state.
Over 7,000 eligible pensioners have received their benefits after a well conducted biometric verification process, this was contained in a statement from Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, Secretary to the State Government.
According to Onyia, 2,640 ghost and deceased pensioners who were still getting paid had been discovered and rooted out during the verification process carried out by the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee.
According to the statement, the action is a necessary part of the administration’s attempts to pay off unpaid pensions and gratuities inherited from past administrations and to also guarantee that rightful retirees would get their benefits.
“Recall that Governor Peter Mbah had earlier promised that his administration was poised to eradicate poverty in the state by clearing inherited backlog of pensions and other liabilities, and also keep up with its current fiscal responsibility to the citizens, among other measures. This will improve our people’s standard of living, raise purchasing power and promote strong and sustainable economic growth in the state,” the SSG said.
He went on saying that in July, 7109 local government pensioners—including 989 newly captured participants who retired between April 2022 and April 2024 but were not included in the pension plan—received monthly payments totalling nearly half a billion naira.
The Local Government Pensions Board’s record revealed that as of April 2024, the state has paid over 8,760 local government retirees, which was against the 7109 verified pensioners, this made the SSG to express his disappointment at the extent of fraud in the pension system.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to paying off all pension arrears, Onyia stated that the state’s approved and recognised payment method would ensure that backlogs were taken out within the government’s appointed time frame.
“We are reforming the pensions system through strong institutional policies that would make it difficult for corrupt elements to find their way into the scheme. We have been able to digitalise the institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment transparent, accountable and traceable,” he added.
