Show proof of payment of FG bailout refund, LG retirees tell Cross River govt

Over  6000 pensioners from the local and state governments in Cross River State  have denied receiving  a dime  from the Federal Government bailout /Paris Club refund, which the state has so far received three times. But the state Commissioner for Finance, Asuquo Ekpenyong had insisted that, as directed by the Federal Government which released the […]

Over  6000 pensioners from the local and state governments in Cross River State  have denied receiving  a dime  from the Federal Government bailout /Paris Club refund, which the state has so far received three times.

But the state Commissioner for Finance, Asuquo Ekpenyong had insisted that, as directed by the Federal Government which released the fund to bail out many states, they had paid many pensioners their gratuities and pensions from the fund.

State chairman of Pensioners Association, Comrade Bassey Bassey Okison who spoke to journalists in Calabar on the plight of his members, called on the commissioner to show proof of such payment to them.

He emphasised:  “I speak on good authority that up till today, not even a dime has been paid to any local government pensioner in the name of pension arrears nor gratuity from the bailout/Paris Club refund,” he said.

He said they have made several efforts to appeal to the relevant state authorities to installmentally defray the over N9 Billion accumulated gratuity and pensions due them from 2007 to the present to no avail.

He said the authorities have always been complaining about lack of funds to pay them their gratuity and pensions but that they were surprised that the Federal Government released so much money to the state to clear this backlog of gratuity yet such money has not been used for the purpose meant.

He also stated that about 600 names of local government pensioners were omitted by the consultant engaged by the state during the 2016 personnel audit, adding that they have resolved to occupy every government office if the state did not positively respond to their outstanding pension and gratuities.

“Having exhausted all known means of reaching out to the authorities without result, we have decided to pack our loads and live in all the offices that are responsible for the payment of these entitlements until further notice. This is not a threat.

“We are very serious about this. We are now 6500. All of us have agreed to move into all government offices. We shall cook and bathe in front of those offices. We have given them one month to defray even by installments. We have written to all concerned about our plight and outstanding debts to no avail, which reason we are compelled to take this action,” he said.

He said since Gov Ben Ayade came in, however, he has tried to pay them their pension but that the N9 million had been due before he assumed office.