Cross River retirees lament 12-year pension freeze, beg Otu for review

Pensioners and other retirees from the Cross River State Government have appealed to Governor Bassey Otu to review and harmonise their pensions with the current national minimum wage.

The retirees said their pensions were last reviewed in 2014, despite three increases in the national minimum wage by the Federal Government since then.

Chairman of the Cross River State Retirees Association, Dr Daniel Effiong, and the association’s Public Relations Officer, Frank Odey, made the appeal during a programme on Sparkling FM on Thursday.

Effiong said some retirees currently receive as little as N4,000 monthly, which he said was grossly inadequate to meet basic needs, including food and medication.

He also alleged that many former state workers had not received their gratuities several years after retiring from service.

“We appeal to Governor Otu to harmonise pensions in the state. The last time it was reviewed was in 2014. Many retirees were screened, yet up till now, many of them have neither received their gratuities nor regular monthly pensions,” Effiong said.

He, however, commended Otu for promising to release another tranche of gratuity payments before December, following the N10 billion the state government paid about two years ago.

Effiong said the previous payment was insufficient to clear the backlog, as many retirees were still awaiting their entitlements.

He said the failure to adjust pensions amid rising living costs had left many elderly retirees struggling to survive; some had died.

“You need to see the pathetic conditions of aged pensioners. Many who do not have good investments, children or other sources of income are dying; others have been ejected by landlords for inability to pay rents, while many others face daily harassment by creditors,” he said.

Effiong recalled that successive administrations had promised to address the pension problem but failed to resolve it.

“If former Governor Ben Ayade had started effectively, it would have been easier for his successor, Governor Otu,” he said.

Odey, meanwhile, rejected any plan by the state government to establish another committee to handle pension payments, arguing that such a move could further delay the process.

“We totally reject the idea of setting up a committee to handle payment of our pensions. This will be another drainpipe. The offices of the Auditor-General and Accountant-General are constitutionally empowered to handle pension payments,” he said.

Odey also called for consequential adjustments to pensions and gratuities, saying the continuous decline in the value of the naira had significantly eroded the purchasing power of retirees.

He commended Otu for maintaining regular monthly pension payments but urged the governor to intervene and review the pensions upward to reflect current economic realities.

Cross River retirees lament 12-year pension freeze, beg Otu for review