Benue state Government has officially flagged of it’s contributory pension scheme to put an end to challenges of payment of pensions and gratuities to civil servants in the state.
Speaking during the event, Governor Samuel Ortom said the scheme was long overdue considering the sufferings retirees who are owed pension and gratuity go through.
According to him, “The Pension Reform Law stipulates that the employer (Government in this case) shall contribute an additional 10 percent of the monthly emoluments of each worker enrolled into the Scheme while the workers are to contribute eight percent of their monthly emoluments into the workers retirement savings.
“This is no doubt a painful but necessary sacrifice that we all must make in order to overcome and put behind us the problem of huge pension liabilities with its accompanying pain and misery to unpaid retired staff,” Ortom, said.
The Governor who disclosed that pension gulps over N700 million monthly said out of the N49 billion arrears he inherited from previous governments, he has been able to pay only part of it due to dwindling resources from Internally Generated Revenue and Federal allocation.
“I am not happy seeing my fathers and mothers, who are on drugs because of their age, not being paid. I am deeply concerned about their plight. Once we begin to implement this, we can have access to the funds there to cushion the challenges we have.
“I have decided that I will clamp down on the enemies of this administration whether they are relatives or party people because I have noted that a lot of bpeople have retired but the wage bill, instead of dropping commiserate with the number of retirements, is going up. I have discovered massive fraud in the civil service and those found culpable will pay dearly.
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The governor called on all civil servants to key into the programme and see it as a necessary panacea to a more secured financial future.
The Chairman of Benue State Pension Commission, Mr Terna Ahua said the flag off marks a milestone not just in the progress being made by the Commission but also in terms of finding lasting solution to the thorny issue of payment of retirement benefits to retirees in the state.
Ahua appreciated the Acting DG of National Pension Commission, Aisha Dahiru-Umar for her assistance to enable the take off of the state pension Commission saying delay and non payment of pensions and gratuities have brought untold hardship on pensioners in the state.
He commended the governor for his strong political will towards addressing pension matters in the state and seeking to end the plight of the retirees in Benue and pledged the commitment of his team to deliver results.
The Director General of National Pension Commission, Abuja, Aisha Umar had commended Governor Ortom for taking a step in the right direction by committing to the welfare of the Benue workers during and after their retirements.
She therefore urged state government to carry out massive enlightenment and sensitization of workers across the state to educate them on the merit of the pension scheme to enable them key in.
