Governor Alex Otti of Abia announced on Friday that the state government had settled all pension arrears owed to retirees in the state. Otti, who disclosed this during the monthly media briefing in Umuahia, stated that as of last Thursday, all pensions and arrears for approximately 12,500 retirees have been cleared. He stated that more than ₦9 billion of the ₦10 billion budget had already been spent on the exercise.
The governor recalled that, upon taking office on May 29, 2023, his administration vowed to pay off all pension arrears by the end of the year. According to him, by the end of the year, we were still stuck with a challenging verification exercise that only ended a few weeks ago. The governor guaranteed that, going forward, pensioners would get 100% of their pensions on or before the 28th of each month.
“As we are paying 100 per cent of salaries we will also pay 100 per cent of pensions.
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“Never again shall we have a backlog of pensions and arrears to be paid,” Otti vowed.
According to the governor, his administration would continue to prioritise the state’s healthcare delivery system. He stated that the government, in partnership with a nonprofit, has recruited over 80 medical doctors to give free medical care throughout the state. Otti stated that medical personnel who had already arrived in the state would perform operations and other sorts of therapy during the next few days.
The governor stated that the government has provided logistics, particularly for residents travelling from outside the state capital, Umuahia. He encouraged people to take advantage of the free workout and get their health checked. Otti stated that his administration would continue its retrofitting initiative for the state’s 948 basic health care institutions. The governor also addressed a number of state development problems while answering journalists’ questions.
