The Abia Pensioners’ Forum, a pressure group under the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), has appealed to Governor Alex Otti to implement the report of the committee set up to review outstanding gratuities and pension arrears in the state.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday in Umuahia, the coordinator of the Forum, Okey Kanu, said many retirees were suffering severe hardship due to the prolonged delay in payment.
Kanu said some pensioners had died, fallen ill or become homeless, insisting that the unpaid entitlements were constitutional rights, not favours.
“The delay is inordinate,” he said. “We will never forfeit our gratuities and pension arrears. They are our rights.”
He noted that while the present administration had paid ten months of pension arrears accumulated between June 2023 and March 2024, it had not addressed the outstanding liabilities inherited from previous governments.
The group also rejected claims that pensioners agreed to forfeit their entitlements under a Memorandum of Agreement allegedly reached with the NUP leadership in Abia.
“With each passing month, more pensioners fall into worsening health, depression, and, in some cases, death without receiving the reward for their decades of service,” Kanu added.
The retirees acknowledged Governor Otti’s infrastructure projects but stressed that payment of all entitlements must remain a priority.
They also reminded the governor that pensioners gave him significant electoral support in 2023, based on his campaign promise to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities.
, has appealed to Governor Alex Otti to implement the report of the committee set up to review outstanding gratuities and pension arrears in the state.){kind=link}