The newly elected executives of the IBC Pensioners Association says it will adopt a new approach in resolving the nonpayment of pension and gratuity of IBC retirees.
The new executive led by the chairman Comrade Chidi Madu made this disclosure at IBC during a courtesy call on the management of IBC.
Comrade Madu said that the union considered the IBC Publicity package with local government, as a critical factor in the solution of their problem and called for the immediate release of the deductions made in that regard. The publicity package of the IBC with the Local Government provides for a monthly deduction of five hundred thousand naira from each of the 27 Local Governments in Imo State as payment for the services IBC renders them on a monthly basis. This amount which totals the sum of N13:500million) monthly is considered by the union as a critical component of the internally generated revenue of the IBC.
The union noted with regrets that 13.5 million deducted monthly by ministry of Local Government and Rural Development is held back in the ministry thereby starving IBC of the much needed fund which can go a long way to address the issue of retirees. The monthly deduction from the Local Government has not been released to IBC since September 2010 and this has greatly affected the inability of the IBC to meet its monthly obligations to its retirees thereby subjecting them to untold hardship and premature death.
The union also suggested that immediate steps be taken by the state government to transfer the burden of pension and gratuity of the IBC retirees to the Establishment as has been done to its sister parastatals since it is obvious that the IBC cannot shoulder this Burden.
In her response, the Acting Director of the IBC Evangelist Esther Obong Egbunna assured the union leaders that their case was already receiving attention from the state government.
