When His Excellency, Rt Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, ascended the reins of government in Delta State, he was met with a conundrum in the payment of local government pensions.
Due to several factors, retired workers of the teaching service, the 25 local government councils, and the local government education authorities owed a backlog of pensions spanning over a decade.
The bill was estimated at over N50bn, and it is needless to say that the retirees suffered great deprivation.
Though the payment of local government workers’ salaries and pensions is the responsibility of the local government councils, not the state government, Oborevwori understood and had a deep commitment to the primary responsibility of government, to ensure the welfare and economic security of citizens.
In his view, no excuse was strong enough to owe, delay or deprive retirees of their entitlements after their working life.
Accordingly, and in line with the cardinal points of his MORE Agenda campaign, he decided that the logjam in the payment of local government pensioners must be resolved, not only immediately, but once and for all.
True to this declaration, he sat down with the chairmen of the local government councils and the leadership of the Bureau of Local Government Pensions to find a lasting solution.
The first and major challenge was how to clear up the accumulated accrued rights to workers, which mounted from 2011. It was agreed at the State Joint Account Committee for all the local government councils to jointly obtain a loan of N40bn, suretied by the state government. This was complemented by a further release of N1.8bn by the Joint Accounts Committee to substantially clear the backlog.
It was, therefore, joy across the state when over 11,400 pensioners from several years back, up to September 2024, were paid.
In December, the JAC further released N1.5bn to pay up an additional 400 retirees, bringing the clearance of the backlog up to retirees by April.
For many pensioners of the local government councils and the local government education authorities, the resolution was a great relief.
But according to the Chairman of the Delta State Bureau of Local Government Pensions, Mr Benjamin Igo, beyond the provision of funds, part of the difficulties in retirees accessing their payments derives from improper enrolment into the Contributory Pensions Scheme, incomplete documentation, and conflicting records, amongst others.
To help pensioners in resolving these problems, the bureau, supported by the governor and the local council chairmen, embarked on a sensitisation and enlightenment tour of the 25 local government areas.
The objective was to get down to the grassroots, to meet, receive and resolve the complaints and difficulties of the retirees, as well as educate serving workers on the proper procedures and processes of enrolment to the Contributory Pensions Scheme.
In the tour were officers of the Bureau of Local Government Pensions, representatives of the National Pension Commission, and of several Pension Fund Administrators, who all converged to enlighten the people.
The outcome is that many retirees and workers got the opportunity to resolve their difficulties, and to understand the processes of the Contributory Pensions Scheme to enable easier and timely processing of their entitlements on their retirement.
With the conclusion of the sensitisation programme, many retirees and in-service workers got many of their difficulties and complaints resolved.
The bureau took extra measures to produce a handbook on the process of the Contributory Pensions Scheme, which it distributed through all the local government councils and local education authorities, for easy reference in the service of pensioners and workers.
For the administration of Governor Oborevwori, the leadership of the Bureau of Local Government Pensions, and the local government chairmen, the commitment is to ensure that workers get paid, not long after, but soon after their retirement. IT is often said that a worker deserves his wages.
As revealed by Prince Godwin Ogorugba, Chairman of Isoko North LGA, “The governor has consistently charged all local government chairmen in Delta State to ensure prompt remittance of accrued rights to workers to the bureau, and the leadership of the bureau are so committed to the timely payment of retirees, such that when they come to make a presentation at JAC, it looks like their life depends on it.”
This is the new face of the administration and management of local government pensions in Delta State.
Fred Edoreh is the Senior Special Assistant, Media to the Delta State Governor
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