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STILL WAITING FOR PAYMENT OF ENUGU STATE GRATUITY
It is now over three months since retired civil servants of Enugu State had gone through the rigorous and excruciating pains of physical and bio-metric verification exercise ordered by the state government for them to receive their long outstanding retirement benefits.
The expectation among these pensioners was that immediately the exercise was concluded, they would receive their payments.
But this is yet to happen, three months after the conclusion of the verification exercise, as the waiting game continues.
Early on assumption of office, Governor Peter Ndubisi Mbah had promised to clear arrears of gratuities owed retired Enugu State workers, running into several years, on condition that the pensioners would undergo a verification exercise to establish their identities.
Accordingly, he inaugurated a seven-man committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, with the State Head of Service, Mr. Kenneth Ugwu, the State Accountant-General, Mr. Anthony Okenwa; and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Finance Management, Prof. Obiamaka Egbo, as members.
Others members of the committee were the State Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Comrade Ben Asogwa, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo; and the Chairman, Public Service Joint Negotiating Council, Comrade Ezekiel Omeh.
The committee was charged with the responsibility to fine-tune the proposal, and work out modalities for payment of the gratuities..
Many people were overjoyed that at last, the long-forgotten Enugu State retirees had been remembered, and hailed Governor Peter Mbah for the bold initiative. They hoped and prayed that very soon there was going to be light at the end of many years inside the dark tunnel, and that there was going to be smiles on the faces of these retired workers.
For over three decades, retired civil servants who served Enugu State diligently and meritoriously and retired without blemish, were allowed to go home empty-handed. In some cases, they were not even paid their monthly stipends, or they were delayed for several months.
The resultant effect was that many of these senior citizens were made to live and die in hopelessness and abject poverty – a serious indictment to an ungrateful nation and the state. .
Justifying the proposed verification exercise, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebre Onyia, explained that the essence was to enable the “government know those qualified to be paid their gratuity and other entitlements”.
He explained that the exercise was meant to “update and validate the records of retirees and their next of kin and ensure that only legitimate beneficiaries receive their gratuity and related payments”, pointing out that the exercise would also eliminate fraud, discrepancies, and delays in the payment process as well as create a reliable and accurate database for future reference.
To ensure a smooth and successful verification process, the SSG further stated that “all participants are required to come with the following documents, which include Notice of Retirement; Pension Form and Pension Authority; Letter of First Appointment; Last Promotion Letter; Bank Verification Number (BVN).
“Other requirements include, National Identification Number (NIN); two recent Passport Photographs; Payslip or Statement of Account for at least five years;
“Death Certificate (for Next of Kin); Letter of Administration/Affidavit and any other relevant documents.”
These were very heavy demands, nevertheless, the pensioners embraced them with utmost seriousness and every sense of responsibility in order to ensure that they meet up with the state government’s requirements for eligibility to receive their entitlements.
They struggled to get the bank statements from the banks, assembled the required documents, did all the photocopies, and packaged them as demanded.
The verification exercise originally fixed to commence on February 24, 2025, took place at the headquarters of each of the seventeen local government areas of the state. It witnessed thousand of retirees, some of whom were brought to the arenas on wheelbarrows by their relations, due to old age and related illnesses. They were made to spend endless days under heavy rainfall and the scorching sun, waiting to be captured and verified.
When we interacted with some of these retirees, we found out that what some of them had been struggling and waiting to be paid as gratuity was as low as N6,000, for the 35 years they had laboured in the services of Enugu State!
Enugu State is one of the states where pensioners receive the lowest allowance. This is because their allowance had not been reviewed for donkey years. You would see some pensioners receive as low as N3,000 monthly stipend. This is in spite of several salary upgrades carried out over the years for serving civil servants.
It is believed that clearance of the backlog of retirement benefits was captured in this year’s Enugu State budget, hence the demand by the state government for them to undergo a verification exercise in order to establish their true identities
Now that the year is fast running out, the fear among many of the pensioners is that the budget might run out without their being paid their entitlement benefits, which would be unfortunate.
While we lament that many pensioners who ought to have reaped the fruit of their labour while alive had since kicked the bucket, we are equally concerned about what looks like an endless wait for those now alive, but whose hope had been raised when they were subjected to undergo a verification exercise with the promise that they would receive their retirement benefits thereafter. Every day they keep on asking: “Have you heard anything from government!?”.
We therefore call on Governor Peter Ndubisi Mbah to rise to the challenge and write his name in gold by graciously completing the race which he has already started.
