By Suleiman Anyalewechi
Like the pension exercise before it, the Payment of several months of salary arrears owed Abia workers, penultimate week kicked off on an avoidable controversial note.
The staggered payment which commenced on September 13, 2024, has been overshadowed by a plethora of complaints over an alleged deliberate exclusion of a larger part of the beneficiaries.
This is coming at a time the dust raised by the untidy handling of the payments of the pension arrears is yet to settle.
Months after the Government celebrated, albeit through unprecedented media hype the feat of clearing all pension arrears, the supposed beneficiaries have continued to insist they were ripped off by the system.
The umbrella body of the Abia pensioners ,has maintained that its members ,largely vulnerable and hapless were deceived ,cajoled and outrightly intimidated into forfeiting ,not just a sizable proportion of their pensions arrears ,but also their gratuities by the Abia state Government.
The Abia state authorities have however rejected the accusation, rather insisting that the pensioners ,willingly entered into an agreement ,to forfeit part of the pensions and gratuities and other entitlements.
But the National Union of Pensioners ,Abia state chapter ,has continued to insist that ,the state Government capitalized on the hapless situation of the old citizens to deprive them of their years of sweat.
As at last week ,the union was still calling for restitution and a review of the said agreement which led to the authorities paying less than a year pensions out of over 45 months arrears
In all, the pensioners union, has continued to accused the Government of deceit and insincerity in the handling of the payments of the pensions arrears .
It has vowed not to relent until justice is done to its hapless and mistreated members.
The controversy besetting the payments of the salary arrears also border on the same alleged deceit ,and lack of openness.
In a statement issued on Friday September 13, by the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu ,the Abia authorities said they have started the installmental payments of the inherited salary arrears through the office of the Accountant General.
The statement noted that the over N17 .5 billion salary arrears will be paid in twelve tranches to verified staff .
However ,this magazine’s findings ,have authoritatively revealed that ,only a negligible percentage of the beneficiaries were captured by the exercise which effectively kicked off two weeks ago as a result of the said verification .
Instructively, the most vulnerable and hapless(sacked workforce ) were left out ,under the guise of verification .
At Abia state Polytechnic Aba, where the accumulated salary arrears is 33 months, those who retired,resigned and or were sacked were denied their several months of arrears.
The immediate past administration in the state had in 2019 sacked over 254 staffers of the Polytechnic Most of them were sacked on trumped up charges of supporting opposition parties then led by Dr Alex Otti and Dr Uche Ogah .
As at the time they were sacked, they left were without their 16 months salaries and other entitlements.
Again, in 2021 another set of about 98 staff were sacked ,with 23 months unpaid salaries ,and other entitlements too .
Between then and now this magazine also discovered that many others equally left the service either out of frustration and or in search of better opportunities .
They also left without their many months of salary arrears .
Ironically, findings have revealed that these categories of former staff of the Polytechnic were ,surprisingly left out of the payments of the arrears.
It was also discovered authoritatively ,that the situation at Abia state polytechnic is the scenario at the Abia state University ,Uturu ,Abia state University Teaching Hospital Aba, ASUBEB and SEMB .
At these organizations and institutions , all those that have left between 2018 and 2023 ,were excluded from the payments ,even though they are being owed between 15 and 23 months arrears.
In fact, staffers of ASUBEB ,both serving ,retired and sacked were not paid anything out of their 11 months arrears.
Insider source revealed that 4 months out of the 11 arrears were incurred when the ASUBEB staff were still part of SEMB .Seven months arrears were later incurred while they are with ASUBEB.
As at Tuesday September 24, 2024 ,the sacked Abia Abia Polytechnic staffers and their retired colleagues were still trying to engage the Management on why they should be left out of the payments which they laboured for .
“We were here last week Tuesday September 17, to find out from the management why we that need this money more were left out .
The Rector was not around ,and we met with the Registrar and Bursar . They told us that ,on their part they did what they were supposed to do and sent to Umuahia .
We were informed that everybody’s name was compiled according to the number of months being owed and sent to the Accountant General’s Office.
They promised they will be sending a letter to the Accountant General . Based on our discussion ,we came back on last Friday to see the Rector himself ,but he was still not on seat .
So today( Tuesday September 24) we have come back to see the Rector and still ,we cannot see him . But we ,are convinced that the Polytechnic performed their duties in this regard. It is now up to the Governor to tell us why he should treat us this way .
Yes ,we were sacked by the Immediate past administration, for reasons everybody in this state knows border on political victimization.
But to come and suffer this kind of neglect at the hands of the person for whom most of us were sacked is to say the least very disappointing and heartbreaking.
Governor Otti,when he was campaigning told us that he will review our sack ; that he is aware that we were victimized for political reasons .
Now ,we are not even talking about returning to our lost jobs;all we are asking for is to be paid for our months of labour.
Many of us are dead,some have relocated to the villages,with our children out school because of the terrible dislocation we have been suffering.
Well, we consider the treatment being meted out to us now by Governor Otti,as more horrifying and devastating than our sack in the first place
The Governor ,if he can not keep to his promise of reviewing our sack ,should pay us our months of labour .We worked for it” one of the sacked and aggrieved workers stated.
The Source reports that signs of the exercise being marred by controversy ,showcased earlier.
Months before the commencement of the salary arrears payments, the Government had sought albeit unsuccessfully to cajole the beneficiaries into accepting 70 percent of the arrears,with 30 % being what it called “sacrifice”.
Heads of the affected MDA’s and institutions were asked to parley with the staffers,on the issue
However ,the strident opposition from Abia University and Abia State Teaching Hospital was part of the reason the Government beat a retreat.
Abia Polytechnic, College Of Health all in Aba ,College of Education Technical Arochukwu ,ASUBEB and SEMB were almost “conquered” before ABSU and ABSUTH came to their rescue .
The situation ,was also majorly helped by the raging storm over the alleged deceitful payments of only a negligible fraction of the pensions arrears.
Government was, therefore, conscious of the need to open another battle front directly.
An authoritative source informed this magazine that it was when the idea of paying only 70 % of the arrears failed that the Government resorted to the use of verification to sideline a large chunk of the salary arrears beneficiaries.
In his statement Penultimate Friday, September 13, announcing the commencement of the salary arrears ,Prince Kanu, the Information Commissioner, noted that the office of the Accountant General will be paying all verified staff a total of N1,5 billion monthly in 12 tranches to clear the N17 .5 billion inherited arrears
This Magazine has gathered that some union leaders of the affected institutions, and MDAs have vowed to resist any attempt by the Government to treat them the dehumanizing way they treated and is treating the pensioners.
“Well, the truth of the matter is that we are not being done any favour. This is our legitimate earnings which were denied us by the immediate past administration in the state .
“But someone came along the line and promised that he will redress the situation .We went along with him. After winning the election, we believe that the promise to redress the wrong of the past should be respected by all concerned.
All these verifications every now and then ,should not be used as an excuse to inflict more pains on innocent,and long suffering people .
“We are expecting the Government to correct this anomaly in the salary arrears payments soonest in the interest of everybody.
:This is an unnecessary distraction. If you are sincere about the whole thing ,it does not take anything to call for the files of those who have resigned ,retired and were sack”, one of the aggrieved union leaders told this magazine.
