By Okey Alozie
Trumpeta Newspaper learnt that Imo Pensioners are again this New Year facing hard times and are dying in their numbers following the ill treatment meted out to then by Imo government.
Many of the retired workers were physically seen on Tuesday at International Conference Centre (IICC) Owerri premises trying fight for their money as their various cheques could not scale through since December 2017.
The woman incharge of pension payment in Imo State, Hon Joy Uwakwem has in different fora promised that all the pension arrears must be cleared soonest, adding that the mistakes made in the past have been corrected.
It was gathered that so many factors led to high wage and pension bills in the State, moreover the N7.9 billion set aside for the payment of pension arrears was tempered with and those behind the ugly situation and is being investigated uptil now. Based on this, there is not enough fund to pay up, the source said.
A close source from Imo government House also revealed that Governor Okorocha want the pension bill to come down to the barest minimum before he can pay off the entire arrears.
Some of the pensioners who spoke to our reporter complained that they face difficult time each day they come for verification exercise from the villages. “Okorocha want us dead before he can release money for our payment” aggrieved pensioners shouted.
More than 20 percent of the pensioners are said to have died since the verification exercise started.
Right now the concerned citizens of the state want the Governor to turn a new leaf and listen to the cry of the pensioners and pay them their money soonest.
Politicians from the opposition groups have described Governor Okorocha as a heartless Governor who has made things worse to the serving and retired workers of the state. Some party Chieftains from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who spoke to our reporter in Owerri raised eyebrows on the ill treatments meted on pensioners.
