Brave Dickson
Aggrieved retirees of the Rivers State Government have asked the state Head of Service, Barr Rufus Godwin to resign following remarks credited him.
In a paged worded document made available to theportcitynews on Friday, the state Head of Service was alleged to have described the retirees as impostors who never worked with the state government.
It reads in part, “these ones carrying placards are not pensioners, nor civil servants. We do not know them.
“These ones carrying placards every Wednesday, their numbers have diminished since the government approved the repeal of the PENCOM Law. They are being sponsored by the opposition.
“The state government is not owing pensioners but all they are seeking for is for the repeal or abrogation of the PENCOM Law.
“I am using this medium to invite them if they are retirees to come for biometric exercise at the Ministry of Justice Complex for those who retired from the mainstream civil service, and those who retired from the parastatals or agencies should go to Rivers State University for the biometric exercise before the 31st of December 2018. If not they are on their own.”
The over three thousand pensioners who retired three years ago said, “we went to the Ministry of Justice this morning as directed by the head of Service for our biometrics and no official was there to attend to us. The offices were under lock and key.
“Barr Rufus Godwin, the current state head of service is incompetent and he is misleading our Governor, Barr Nyesom Wike. Therefore we demand his immediate resignation.”
The Spokesperson for the pensioners, Mr Lucky Ati, said that the state government is owing over 2, 000 pensioners the sum of 70 billion naira under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
“All we want now is that the Contributory Pension Law be abrogated. It is suffocating us, many of us have died out of penury. Some of us are diabetic and suffering from all manner of diseases. Is it a crime to serve the state for 33 years and above?” Ati lamented.
