Finally, Gov Otti Agrees To Revisit Contentious Pension Arrears Payment

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

At last, there appears to be a glimmer of hope that the long drawn battle between Abia State Pensioners and the Governor Alex Otti-led Administration may be coming to an  end.

The Pensioners had, shortly, after the State Government  claimed to have cleared their several years of pension arrears last year cried foul and took  to the trenches.

Reason: The senior citizens said they were  grossly shortchanged, with only a negligible  fraction of what was actually due to them paid.

Specifically, they claimed  that what was actually paid was the few months of the arrears that the present administration incurred, leaving behind  those  accumulated during previous regimes.

This, they alleged, was in  addition to forcing them into ceding their  humongous gratuities and entitlements under dubious hazy circumstances.

According to the Pensioners’ Leadership, the senior citizens were  cajoled, bamboozled ,and outrightly tricked into signing a pact they knew little or nothing about its full implications.

The Leadership of the Pensioners have, in the last one year, used every available platform to register their displeasure and to demand for a revisit of the agreement leading up to the pension payments.

But the state authorities will not have any of that. In fact, Governor Otti, in the last few months, has used every opportunity to lampoon the senior citizens, particularly their Leadership whom  he has dubbed irresponsible, deceitful and, ungrateful.

The obviously embittered Governor has, also, insisted that there is an agreement willingly entered into by all the parties.

Severally, he has refuted claims of Government brow-beating ,and forcing an agreement down the throats of the retired workers.

For him, the agreement leading up to the clearance of the pension arrears was mutually brokered and entered into.

He, therefore, sees the volte face by the senior citizens as opposition – induced, calculated to embarrass the Government.

However, not a few have tended to question the motive behind cajoling the pensioners into  forfeiting even a kobo of  their entitlements, under what ever guise.

This is even as many have condemned the signing of any agreement, whether willingly or forced with a sect of people, already, disadvantaged by many years of denial and starvation.

At his last, but one, monthly media chats in January 2025, the Governor announced the foreclosure of the possibilities of revising the pension arrears payment.

It is against this backdrop that the revelation of his readiness to reconsider the  issue will be a big relief for the retired workers and observers of the pension arrears payment controversy.

At an interdenominational thanksgiving service held at  the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia in commemoration of the 80th birthday of Abia elder Statesman, Senator Chris Adighije, on Saturday, March 22, 2025, Governor Otti promised to work in  concert with the leadership of the Pensioners to address any areas of disagreement.

The Governor’s assurance came on the heels of an appeal from the Chaplain of the FMC Chapel, regarding the issue.

The Governor, however, maintained his earlier position accusing the Leadership of the Pensioners of insincerity .

Similarly, he noted that the same insincerity and deceit were some of the reasons why past administrations in the state failed or neglected to meet their obligations to the retired workers.

The Governor berated the Leadership of the Pensioners for allowing themselves to be instigated by the same sect of people that failed to pay them their pensions for several years

He, pointedly, accused the Leadership of the Pensioners’ umbrella body ,of taking instructions from the opposition camp.

“Thank you for calling our attention to the issue of pension that had become problematic and I want to thank you for being honest.

“I have always maintained that our senior citizens are very honest people. But the problem is with their Leadership and the problem has to do with association .

“Somebody owed you for over ten years, and didn’t pay you. Then someone else came and brought N10 billion, and paid you, then the next day, you, the person that owed you, speaks for you.

“You can see that something is wrong. So, please, tell them to mind who their friends are.

“You can’t agree to something ,and then, you turn back to say you didn’t agree. You can’t sign, and say you signed under duress”, Governor Otti stated.