BY DENNIS UDOMA, Uyo
Following the hunger protest by the Akwa Ibom Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners in the pipeline, Governor Umo Eno has pleaded the pensioners to shelf their plans to allow government time to work and implement the agreement it reached with the Union.
The State Government position was contained in a statement issued by the Head of Civil Service (Elder Effiong Essien) and made available to newsmen in Uyo on Thursday.
He said, government attention has been drawn to the plans by pensioners to demonstrate against the good works the present government is doing to ameliorate the suffering of workers and the retirees since it assume office in the area of paying gratuities and pensions in the past few months.
Elder Essien, who stated that, over N14B has been paid for the settlement of pensions and gratuities in addition to other lofty benefits and supports to them through Enomber, Salary awards and the pet project of the wife of the governor, Golden Initiative for All.
The Head of Service stated inter – Alia that, “our attention has been drawn to media reports by the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), to stage a mass demonstration over the delays in the implementation of the upward review of pensions to a minimum of N20, 000 for those who retired before 2007, and N15, 000 for those who retired between 2007 and 2011 earlier approved by the Akwa Ibom State Executive Council in April, 2023 by the immediate past administration.
” It is an acknowledged fact that government is a continuum and the present administration under the people-oriented leadership of His Excellency, Governor Umo Eno, has continued to prioritize the welfare of serving and retired workers with pragmatic approaches.
“To cushion the plight of retirees, the present government has so far released over 14 billion Naira for the settlement of outstanding pensions and gratuities. This has been acknowledged and commended by all, including the NUP leadership.
“There are also other welfare packages for the elderly instituted by the state government, and the Governor’s wife, Pastor Mrs. Patience Umo Eno, through her pet project, Golden Initiative For All (GIFA), which some Pensioners are also beneficiaries.
“These are in addition to the regular settlement of workers’ entitlements and other packages like the 3 months wage awards, the 13th months pay (ENOMBER), to enable workers, many of them, offsprings of the Pensioners, reach out to their parents and others. Resources have also been channelled to several ongoing projects and programmes across the state including the Bulk Purchase arrangement, geared towards enhancing the well-being of Akwa Ibom people.
” It is therefore, a matter of time for the approved increments in the pensions to be effected for our esteemed senior citizens, who spent their youthful years serving the state.
“Government appreciates the support and understanding of the Pensioners and hereby assures them of the implementation of the increments as both parties continue to engage towards charting modalities in this direction as done in the pensions and gratuities payment.”
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