Since January, some pensioners have taken delight in protesting non-payment of pensions and gratuities, blocking the ever-busy king square causing traffic gridlock during their protests. Sometimes, they are adorned in red apparels with its war-like connotation to express themselves.
Early findings have shown that the protests are sponsored by opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) big wigs in the state. Here is a party that when they held sway for over ten years wreaked economic havoc on the state. All the problems Nigerians are going through today which the All Progressives Congress Government is making good and visible efforts to solve were created by the greedy PDP-led government.
Available information and data from the Edo State Government shows that there have been gross misinformation that has characterized the payment of pensions in the state. The 18 local government councils in the state jointly contributed N212, 879, 888 in August towards the payment of pension in the state while the State Government contributed N244, 087,081 in the month of September for the same purpose.
A total allocation accrued to the 18 LGAs in the month of September and shared in the month of October was N2.55billion with N1.46billion billion spent on mandatory expenditure. More so, there have been significant increase in internally generated revenue by the local governments councils as their IGR increased from N85, 027, 746 in September to N115, 538,668 in October.
Meanwhile, the Edo State Government had adopted a phased approach to address the backlog of pensions which his administration inherited from previous administrations, particularly the PDP government. Government disbursed a whooping N2.1 billion to offset the bills from January to September, and that they would get more when economic indicators improve. What is expected therefore from the pensioners is for them to exercise patience. The pensioners themselves can see the determination of the Obaseki-led government to deal with the issue of pensioners and end all forms of issues associated with the elder statesmen and women under the phased approach.
One point also need to be made. The State Government is not existing for pensioners or civil servants alone. The entire state population put at over three million people needs the attention of government at the same time in the areas of: education (primary, secondary and tertiary schools), health ( primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions), security, infrastructure (roads, electricity) and many more. These competing needs also have to receive Governor Obaseki’s attention which the pensioners also stands to benefit from.
It is good that the Governor himself plans to meet with both local and state government pensioners in the state to correct the misinformation about pension payments by his administration. It will be important to also use the meeting to advise the pensioners against falling prey to the manipulations of the PDP in the state.
One can easily recall that at a recent visit of a delegation from the Edo State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) to Government House in Benin, the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki assured the State and Local Government Pensioners of his administration’s willingness to tackle issues of unpaid pensions and gratuity.
The governor himself is concerned about the plight of pensioners even before he became governor. It is very sad to find pensioners go through agonizing conditions after completing their meritorious services to the state and the nation. Many of them go through hellish situations just to get captured in the pensioners data base or even commence receiving their entitlements. Sadly, many others do not even live to enjoy their pension benefits.
The continued assurance of the governor to pensioners which has been matched with concrete actions need to be appreciated. The Local Government Councils must ensure that revenue generation must be jerked up. Collection of taxes, rents and rates must be shored up and freed from all forms of encumbrances and leakages so that government can collect all the revenues needed to address the hydra-headed pensions issue.
One point must be emphasised. Obaseki inherited an accumulated pension bills and several unattended cases. In fact, the Pensions board was shut down and closed to new retirees for over one year. More and more people are retiring almost on a daily basis from public service in the state as the issue rages.
It is therefore good that the new Revenue collection policy put in place by his administration ensures that revenues were properly accrued to local governments. The government has even gone ahead to approve the deduction of one per cent pension dues as requested by the Local Government union. This, in my considered view would go a long way in stabilizing the local government pensions system in the state.
The Godwin Obaseki-led administration has started implementing the contributory pension Scheme since January 2017. The Edo State Contributory Pensions Law (as amended) regulates the administration of the contributory pension scheme for the public sector workers in the state. The National Pensions Act, from where the state Pensions Law is derived from spells out participation in the contributory pension scheme which applies to two categories of employees. These categories comprise of all employees in the public sector and those in private Organizations with employees numbering 15 and above.
With the implementation of the Pension Law by the Edo State Government, a more holistic approach has been undertaken to deal with all sorts of pension issues on a permanent and sustainable basis. The road may have not been smooth even though it is indeed a radical departure from the past.
Interestingly too, the government has taken giant strides in paying backlog gratuities and it is being carried out systematically devoid of corruption and nepotism as was the case in the past.
Nobody should hide behind the pensioners to undermine peace in the state. The PDP which lost election woefully in the state must not disturb the peace of the good people of the state under any guise. The PDP had all the opportunity to resolve the pensioners problems in the state with the oil wind falls and failed to do so. They must desist from their treacherous maneuvres as has been revealed forthwith. The PDP needs to look elsewhere to seek relevance, not with our respected pensioners.
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• Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC).
