As retirees of the Rivers State Civil Service starts receiving their monthly pensions, the body of retirees in the state has insisted that the state Sole Administrator, Retired Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has not released funds for the payment of gratuities and death benefits.
The retirees gave the clarification following comment made by the media aide to the sole administrator, asserting that Ibas had not released funds meant for the payment of gratuities and death benefits of the state civil servants.
The Public Relations Officer of the state Civil Service Retirees, Comrade Sam Eke described the comment made by the media aide to Ibas as a pathological lie, hinting our correspondent that only the monthly pension has been paid.
He said: “What the media aide is saying is a pathological lie. Go to the State Ministry of Finance or the Accountant-General’s office and confirm; Ibas has never given approval for the release of the 2 billion naira usually released to cover for pension arrears, gratuities and death benefits. His media aide is talking rubbish.
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As we speak, he has only approved funds for monthly pension, not gratuities and death benefits. At least today, pensioners have started getting alerts for their monthly pension.”
The state retirees are among many other citizens of the country who did not welcome the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara by President Bola Tinubu under the guise of invoking a state of emergency.
The senior citizens of the state had repeatedly said since Ibas took over the state seat of power, the welfare of retirees had not been looked into.
You recall that the just-concluded Workers’ Day celebration which took place on May 1, was not celebrated in the state because of the emergency rule imposed on it, which the Nigeria Labour Congress described as undemocratic.
Among the demands of the workers during the Workers’ Day gathering was the immediate restoration of democratic institutions in the state, which includes the reinstatement of the suspended governor.
At the national level, the workers, through their parent NLC, demanded an upward review of the retirement and service age from 60 years to 65 years and from 30 years to 40 years, respectively.
The workers demanded that the federal government equalise the retirement and service age of all sectors of the nation’s civil service in line with the current retirement and service age for teachers, health professionals, and judges.
