ABAKALIKI – Mr Leonard Nkah, President, Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) Ebonyi Chapter, said the union plans to appoint a pension desk officer to cater for the needs of pensioners.
Nkah in a statement signed by Mr Ndukwe Ogbu-Ibiam, Public Relations Officer of the union, said the setting up of the pension desk would fast-tract payment of benefits to retirees.
According to the statement, Nkah spoke in Abakaliki after his swearing in for a second term in office.
“ The pension office will take-off this year; our task now is for God to open our eyes to locate a retiree, sound in mind, with activism in the spirit who can effectively man that office for us,’’ Nkah was quoted as saying.
According to the statement, the pension desk officer would do the “ running around’’ to ensure that local government pensioners get all their entitlements as and when due.
The appointment of the desk officer, the NULGE state president noted, would also reduce the suffering of pensioners who travel from the rural areas to sort out “ even minor pension issues’’ in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital.
He also promised to establish within the year, a cooperative scheme, that would cater for the credit needs of local government workers.
He thanked his colleagues for the support given to him during his first tenure and appealed to them to do same during his second tenure.
Nkah said that during his first tenure, his administration constructed the NULGE’s ultra-modern secretariat, uplifted the image of the union, among others.
He commended Mr Kingsley Ogba, the first NULGE president in Ebonyi for laying a solid foundation for the union in the state.
Other members of the executive sworn in were: Rebecca Onwe, Deputy State President; Esther Akputa, Treasurer; Ndukwe Ogbu-Ibiam, Public Relations Officer, among others.