Pension arrears: Stop deceiving Abia people, PDP tells Otti

The Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the state governor, Dr Alex Otti, to come out clean on the issue of pension arrears in the state.

The PDP said Otti has been peddling lies to confuse and deceive the people of Abia State about the pension situation in the state.

The governor had, in April 2024, said the state government had paid all the pension arrears of retirees in the state.

He noted that all the pensions and arrears of about 12,500 retirees were cleared as of April, saying over N9 billion out of the N10 billion outlay had been expended for the exercise.

Speaking on the development via a statement on Sunday, May 12, Abia PDP Vice Chairman/Acting State Publicity Secretary Abraham Amah said a contrary view from the pensioners in the state revealed that such may not be the case.

Amah said: “To show further proof that the claim is false and embellished with visible lies, there are discrepancies in the claim because, Alex Otti, his operatives and the pensioners do not agree on the accurate number of months cleared.

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“While his Commissioner for Finance said nine years, Alex Otti in the United States said ten years and pensioners insist that only a certain percentage of the nine months arrears owed them since the inception of the Otti administration were cleared. At this point, we will leave the judgment to discerning Abians.”

Amah stated that last week, the Executive Council-in-session of the Abia State chapter of the National Pensioners Union (NUP) released a statement dissociating itself from any agreement entered between the government and pensioners which purportedly agreed that pensioners forgo all outstanding arrears as a condition for the regular payment of their monthly pension.

He added: “The records are clear that in the eight years of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, which amounts to 96 months, he paid 51 months pension and had an outstanding of 45 months which the NUP has acknowledged several times.

“Abia PDP wonders how 45 months suddenly turned to 9 or 10 years which Alex Otti consistently referenced during his toxic campaigns as an opposition figure.

“Unfortunately, he has carried on with his lies to the government and does not understand the boundaries between being in opposition and the government.

“Arising from the above, Abia PDP demands an explanation and wants to know where the balance 111 or 99 months are, as Alex Ott claims to have cleared 9 or 10 years arrears and will soon be reflected in Abia State quarterly expenditure records and used to fleece Abians.”

The Star