– Aimed At Diverting Peoples’ Money For Personal Use
Chief F.C. Agba, a retired Permanent Secretary and former Chairman of the Association of Retired Permanent Secretaries in Imo State, has said that the incessant verification of civil servants and pensioners in the state is not only fraudulent but also aimed at diverting people’s money for personal use.
Agba, a human rights activist and vocal commentator on contemporary issues who stated this in an exclusive interview with Nigeria Watchdog Newspaper, also said that over 20% of pensioners in the state are owed several months arrears of pension despite the several verification exercises conducted by the state government and the consultants it hired.
According to Abga, “the verification exercises are absolutely unnecessary because pension, according to section 121 of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, as amended, is a charge that is not included in the annual budget. The payment of pension has nothing to do with the annual budget.
Besides, it is ridiculous that the state government keeps on verifying retired civil servants whose records are in the files with which they served the state for several years before they retired. Even if there is need for them to be verified, all that the person needs to come along with is the identification card that will confirm if the person is still alive because all the records are there for any person to see”.
This, according to him “is like a university that offers a student admission to study a course later turning around to ask the student if he or she actually graduated. It is ridiculous and laughable because it is the university that should go through its records to confirm if the student graduated or not because all the records are there. It is the university that has the records of its students that should say who graduated and who did not. Hence the incessant verification exercises are fraudulently designed to divert pensioners’ money into the private pockets of some heartless people.
Besides, most of the pensioners who have problems and go to the office of the Accountant General for clarification get disappointed. The Accountant General who should at least put things in proper perspective tells them to meet Terrence, the Consultant at the Imo State Government House, who is Governor Hope Uzodinma’s kinsman.” He also noted that pensioners who attempted to see Terrence for issues they had found it very difficult to see him because his office is located inside the Government House that is not easily accessible, considering the tight security there.
“And it is the same Terrence who is neither a Civil Servant nor has civil service experience that decides who is paid and who is not paid. Even the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Comrade Ugochukwu has confirmed that over 20% of pensioners are owed several months arrears of pension. It is regrettable that the leadership is not doing much to address the issue with the seriousness it deserves. That some of us are being paid does not mean that we should keep quiet and allow our colleagues who are owed to die of hunger, lack and deprivation.”
Responding to a question, he said, they are yet to receive their pension for the month of February and does not see any justifiable reason for such unnecessary delay.
Recall that Nigeria Watchdog Newspaper recently published a report that over 1,000 out of 10,000 staff in the local government system have not been paid salary for several months. They are also said to be complaining that a Consultant who is Governor Uzodinma’s kinsman is arm-twisting and holding them to ransom.
According to the report, “Over 1000 persons out of about 10,000 staff in the Imo State local government system are presently weeping and gnashing their teeth as a result of the hunger, lack and deprivation they have been subjected to following the non- payment of their salaries by the Imo state government.
Some of them who spoke to Nigeria Watchdog newspaper on the condition of anonymity, said their already pitiable plight was worsened when the current chairman of Imo State Local Government Service Commission Dr Nick Obinatu assumed office and immediately took over the preparation of payroll and payment of salary alongside Terrence Obijaku who is incharge of the Imo Data Center, contrary to what was obtainable in the past.
According to them, “prior to this time, Chairmen of local government councils, their Treasurers and Accountants were in charge of the preparation of payrolls and the payment of staff salaries. But regrettably, the payroll and salaries of staff of the various local government councils are now prepared by the Director General of the Imo State Data Center, one Terrence who, aside from not having accounting knowledge, has no business whatsoever with the Imo State civil service. He is now the person responsible for the payment of salaries in the state.
The disturbing aspect of it is that there is no data to ascertain who has been paid and who has not been paid. Though they have continuously claimed that the omissions that culminated in the non-payment of salaries is a mistake, we all know that it is a deliberate ploy to shortchange some people and divert their salaries”.
“We thought that Obinatu’s emergence as Chairman of the Local Government Commission would be a blessing because we expect that he will ensure that the right things are done in line with civil service rules and guidelines. But the reverse is presently the case. We therefore suggest that they stay off the issue of payroll and payment of salary completely and allow those who are trained and statutorily empowered to do that to take over the responsibility as it was done in the past.
Besides, it is wrong for salaries of staff in the 27 local government councils to be computed by one isolated office, considering the number of staff in the 27 local government councils in this state”.
