The Enugu State Government has announced that it has commenced payment of pensions to local government retirees.

A statement on Sunday by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said over 7,000 eligible pensioners have received their payments following a thorough biometric verification process.

Onyia said that the verification exercise conducted by the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee identified and eliminated 2,640 ghost and deceased pensioners who were still receiving payments.

“This move is part of the administration’s efforts to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities inherited from previous governments, ensuring that legitimate retirees receive their deserved benefits.

“Recall that Governor Peter Mbah had earlier promised that his administration was poised to eradicate poverty in the state by clearing the inherited backlog of pensions and other liabilities and also keep up with its current fiscal responsibility to the citizens, among other measures. This will improve our people’s standard of living, raise purchasing power and promote strong and sustainable economic growth in the state,” the statement said.

He added that a total of 7109 local government pensioners received monthly payments of close to half a billion naira in July, including 989 newly captured entrants who retired between April 2022 and April 2024 but were not accommodated in the pension scheme.

The SSG, who frowned at the level of fraud in the pensions system, said the record provided by the Local Government Pensions Board indicated that the state had been paying over 8760 local government retirees as of April 2024 against the 7109 verified pensioners.

Reiterating the state government’s commitment to clear all arrears, Onyia stressed that the payment mode adopted by the state would guarantee that backlogs were phased out within the timeline set out by the government.

“This administration will continue to support our citizens, particularly our senior citizens who dedicated their time and energy to serving the state. We will soon phase out all arrears inherited by the administration.

“We are reforming the pensions system through strong institutional policies that would make it difficult for corrupt elements to find their way into the scheme. We have been able to digitalize the institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment transparent, accountable and traceable,” the statement added.

Last updated on December 27th, 2024 at 07:58 am