Tuesday, August 27, 2024 -The Enugu State Government said it has identified 2,640 ghost and deceased pensioners still listed on its payroll during a verification process.
Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, Secretary to
the State Government, who disclosed this on Sunday, August 25, 2024, said
payments to local government retirees have also commenced as part of Governor
Peter Mbah’s initiative to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities.
He said the verification process, conducted
by the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee, has led to
payments for over 7,000 local government pensioners.
According to him, this includes payments
totalling nearly half a billion naira in July, with 989 newly verified retirees
who had not previously been included in the pension scheme.
Prof. Onyia disclosed that the Local
Government Pensions Board had been paying 8,760 retirees as of April 2024,
contrary to the 7,109 verified pensioners.
The SSG frowned at the level of fraud in
the pensions system, noting that records provided by the Local Government
Pensions Board indicated that the state had been paying over 8760 local
government retirees as of April 2024 against the 7109 verified pensioners.
He restated the state’s commitment to
clearing all arrears, adding that the payment mode adopted by the state would
guarantee that backlogs were phased out within the timeline set out by the
government.
“This administration will continue to
support our citizens, particularly our senior citizens who dedicated their time
and energy to serving the state. We will soon phase out all arrears inherited
by the administration,” he said.
“We are reforming the pensions system
through strong institutional policies that would make it difficult for corrupt
elements to find their way into the scheme. We have been able to digitalize the
institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment
transparent, accountable and traceable."
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