Abia Pensioners Cry Out Again, Demand Payment of Outstanding 60 Months Pensions, Gratuities

Abia Pensioners under the aegis of Abia Pensioners’ Forum has cried out over the continued non-payment of outstanding pension arrears and gratuities, appealing to Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, to urgently intervene and pay the retirement benefits owed pensioners in the state.

The pensioners made the appeal during a press conference held today in Umuahia, Abia state, where they expressed concern over what they described as the prolonged hardship being experienced by retired workers who have yet to receive their full entitlements.

In a statement jointly signed by the Co-ordinator, Okey Kanu, Esq.; Secretary, Comrade Emma Onyenviri; Emmanuel Izundu Chigbu; Gbaruko Victor Okey; Zimiro Nwokochа; and Godfirst Umejiaku, the forum said the briefing was part of its continuing efforts to draw attention to the plight of pensioners in the state.

The group recalled that Governor Otti, during his election campaigns, had made commitments to address outstanding pension and gratuity obligations inherited from previous administrations, but alleged that several of the promises remained unfulfilled.

According to the forum, pension arrears stood at as much as 60 months for some pensioners as of May 2023, depending on their year of retirement, while gratuity, it alleged, had not been officially paid in the state since 2002.

The pensioners stressed that pension and gratuity were not favours or gifts from government but legitimate retirement benefits earned through years of service.

They cited Section 210 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, arguing that pensioners were constitutionally entitled to their benefits and that pensions should be reviewed periodically alongside civil service salaries.

The forum also recalled Governor Otti’s criticism of the immediate past administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu over the non-payment of workers’ salaries, pensions and gratuities.

According to the pensioners, Otti, in an open letter to Ikpeazu published in Nigerian newspapers in July 2018, had strongly condemned the hardship caused by unpaid salaries and pension arrears and called for greater empathy towards workers and pensioners.

The group said the governor had at the time argued that failure to pay workers and pensioners had serious economic and social consequences, including indebtedness, hardship and inability to save or invest.

It also recalled Otti’s reference to biblical and Islamic teachings on the obligation to pay workers their legitimate wages.

The pensioners therefore described the current situation as an “anticlimax”, urging the governor to practise what he preached while in opposition.

The forum alleged that the present administration had made several commitments concerning the payment of pension arrears and gratuities which had yet to be fulfilled.

It cited alleged assurances to clear outstanding pension and gratuity obligations, revisit an existing memorandum of agreement involving pensioners, and pay gratuity at various dates in 2026.

According to the group, assurances concerning the payment of gratuity by the end of March, April, May and July 2026 had not been fulfilled.

The pensioners said they were particularly disappointed by the government’s reported response on July 7, 2026, that although funds for the payment were available, gratuity would be paid in phases after the relevant authorities had reconciled their records.

They questioned the prolonged reconciliation exercise, arguing that pensioners had authorisation letters containing details of their monthly pension and gratuity entitlements and that most had already undergone verification exercises conducted by the present administration.

The forum urged the government to separate cases requiring reconciliation from those without outstanding issues and commence payment to verified pensioners immediately.

The pensioners also challenged any claim that all inherited pension arrears had been cleared.

They called on the state government to constitute a judicial panel of inquiry to independently verify pension arrears and payments made since the inception of the present administration.

The group said the panel would establish the exact amount owed each pensioner and determine whether claims that inherited arrears had been cleared were accurate.

According to the forum, the payment made in March 2024 represented arrears accumulated by the present administration after it paid only half of the monthly pension between June 2023 and March 2024, rather than inherited pension arrears.

They challenged the government to make its payment records available for verification, insisting that they were prepared to subject their claims to independent scrutiny.

The forum lamented that some pensioners had died without receiving their full retirement benefits, while those still alive were struggling to meet basic needs, including food, medication and healthcare.

It said the unpaid gratuities were also needed by many retirees to complete their retirement homes, settle debts, support their families and establish new livelihoods after leaving active service.

The pensioners further questioned why former local government chairmen and councillors who served for only two years under previous administrations could allegedly receive their entitlements while retirees who served the state for decades continued to wait for their statutory benefits.

“We are not asking the government to give us anything. We are asking for what is due to us,” the forum said.

The pensioners acknowledged the regular payment of monthly pensions by the present administration, saying they appreciated the development, but urged Governor Otti to urgently address the outstanding pension arrears and gratuities.

They appealed to the governor to “have mercy and show humanity” by considering the plight of pensioners and taking immediate steps to settle their legitimate entitlements.

The group said the government did not necessarily have to settle all outstanding obligations at once, urging it to commence payment with either gratuity or pension arrears and continue until all verified claims were cleared.

It warned that further delay would continue to erode the value of the already-devalued retirement benefits and further diminish the confidence of pensioners in the government.

The forum, however, stressed that the issue should not be politicised, noting that it appreciated the infrastructure and other developmental projects of the Otti administration but maintained that pensioners deserved to receive their legitimate retirement benefits.

The pensioners consequently urged the Abia State Government to muster the political will to resolve the outstanding pension and gratuity crisis, saying that immediate action would bring relief to thousands of retirees and restore their confidence in the government.