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Pensioners in Enugu State have commended Governor Peter Mbah for commencing the payment of gratuity arrears owed to retired workers in the state since 2000.
The State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ikechukwu Ekere, who confirmed the development in Enugu, said the governor had broken the jinx of years of neglect of pensioners through the initiative.
Ekere described the commencement of the payments as a major relief to retired workers, stressing that any government that prioritised the welfare of its people deserved support to sustain its policies.
Also speaking, the Caretaker Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Local Government Staff Pensions Board Branch, Kenneth Ugwueze, said the development had brought succour to many homes and smiles to the faces of senior citizens.
The two union leaders called on pensioners and their dependants across the state to support Mbah’s re-election, saying pension administration had become less cumbersome under his administration, particularly in the payment of monthly pensions.
“We are happy with the new dimensions brought in by His Excellency, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Ndubisi Mbah, in pension administration in the local government system, and we are so glad and grateful for that.
“Before now, local government workers and primary school teachers who retired had to wait for two years before receiving their pensions. But since the conclusion of the verification exercise in July 2024, no pensioner in the local government system has been denied pension. We have been receiving our pensions as and when due.
“Now that our people have started receiving alerts for their gratuity, it is a thing of joy,” they said.
They also commended local government chairmen for commencing the contribution of 10 per cent of their councils’ monthly allocations towards the payment of gratuities to local government pensioners.
The union leaders said pensioners had never had it so good, given the improvements in pension administration and the commencement of gratuity payments.
Some beneficiaries of the ongoing payments also expressed gratitude to the governor, describing the development as a rekindling of hope after years of waiting.
