Abia Govt. Accuses NUP Of Misinformation Over Pension Arrears

The Abia State Government has accused the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) of spreading misinformation.

Ferdinand Ekeoma, special adviser to the governor on media and publicity, made this disclosure during a press briefing on Monday.

Recall that the Nigerian Union of Pensioners claims that they never signed a memorandum of understanding to forfeit their pensions and gratuity, thus having issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Alex Otti-led government to meet their demands.

Ekeoma explained that the narratives presented by the NUP leadership were incorrect, citing the favourable deal they received under the current administration.

“We have a group of people who were opposed for months and years, and what they were opposed to was almost forgotten until the inception of this government,” he said.

According to Ekeoma, the governor decided to negotiate with the NUP, who had requested a waiver on outstanding payments.

“At the end of the day, the union got a good deal and they wanted His Excellency to waive whatever they were owed and be paid 100% monthly salaries, but His Excellency said no; he felt for them and decided to give them what one would regard as a scratcher,” he stated.

The special adviser also revealed that a sum of N10bn was made available for this purpose, and the union accepted the payment. However, during discussions, the government discovered that the estimated outstanding amount was N15bn, which later turned out to be over N30bn.

Also speaking, Ukoha Njoku, Chief Press Secretary, clarified that the government never claimed to have paid all outstanding gratuities.

“There was an understanding, because you can’t, as a commoner, you are a child, this is your government, at this point, every month you are under obligation to pay pensioners, to pay workers, and you can’t abandon the workers or your obligation of paying a monthly pension and say you must go and claim the gratuity when you do not have the resources to do so,” he explained.

Njoku accused the NUP leadership of dishonesty, seeking to exploit the government’s limited resources.

“It’s only because what they are looking for is for the government to apply the same strategy that previous governments have applied, which is to penetrate the leadership of different bodies, like NLC and others, so that we start paying them, that they will shut them out and their members will be owed,” he added.

The Chief Press Secretary further emphasized that the government prioritised developmental projects and could not afford to divert funds to settle outstanding debts.

The Abia State Government maintained that it had fulfilled its obligations to pensioners, despite the NUP leadership’s claims of misinformation.

Abia Govt. Accuses NUP Of Misinformation Over Pension Arrears is first published on The Whistler Newspaper