On-the-alleged-fraudulent-practices-by-the-delta-state-government-in-handling-unremitted-contributory-funds-meant-for-delta-state-councils-and-public-primary-schools-pensioners
September 7, 2020 | News
ON THE ALLEGED FRAUDULENT PRACTICES BY THE DELTA STATE GOVERNMENT IN HANDLING UNREMITTED CONTRIBUTORY FUNDS MEANT FOR DELTA STATE COUNCILS & PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS’ PENSIONERS
With recent reports that concerned Delta State Local Government Contributory Retirees, said that N5.9 billion unremitted contributory deductions from their salaries, is currently lying fallow in the Delta State Government’s coffer while their backlog of arrears are not paid, we could not help but wonder what sort of level of wickedness is this being perpetrated by the Delta State Government against Local Government Council retirees? If the said report is true, then it means the relevant Delta State Government officials are obviously collaborating with Commercial Bank officials to handle such funds to gather huge interests for them, and use same for their personal purposes.
According to the said Council Retirees, the development stemmed from Delta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa’s reported ‘failure’ to appropriate and release substantial amount of the monies to the State Bureau of Local Government Pensions to clear backlog of arrears of pension owed Local Government and Public Primary Schools’ retirees in the state. The claim was contained in a statement signed by Messrs Mode Augustine, Sir Henry Tukpe, Allensgate Agbanobi and Onwundijo Christopher on behalf of the said retirees.
My take is this, whatever interest that must have gathered as a result of such funds left lying fallow, should all be given to the pensioners who are the rightful owners of the said funds, and who are daily suffering from the non-payment of their rightful gratuities and entitlements. With such development and reports, we can see the level of wickedness of Nigerian politicians, who collaborate with bank officials to continually cheat the common pensioners for their own money. Come to think of it, why would the Delta State Government purposely delay, or unwillingly to appropriate and release funds meant for Pensioners? Why should State Council and Public-School Teachers be owed backlog of arrears of pension, after offering and sacrificing their time, sweat and years of active service to the State and the public? How can civil servants/Teachers in the State’s public school, sacrificially put in 35 years of their lives and sweats, yet their gratuities are deliberately delayed, or not paid at all until they eventually get sent to an early grave?
Truth be told, we are tired of hearing such sad and disturbing news about pensioners/retirees of Delta State and what they are yearly made to pass through by the Politicians in the State Government. To say that Delta State Pensioners have been having it very rough and tough in life, is to put it mildly. Recall that we recently wrote on how it was observed that, for Pensioners in Delta State who have ‘connections’ in Government and the Public Service Authorities, it takes between 4 - 5 years after retirement, before they are paid a dime of their gratuities, which nobody actually understands the exact amount that is due to them. In fact, none, about-to-retire civil servant in Delta State know exactly how much he/she will be paid as gratuity when they retire. And for those who do not have any ‘connections’ in Government and within the Authorities of the Public Service, their expectant of their gratuities are without any number of years. Hence, many of them are sent to their early grave without receiving a dime of their gratuities. So, Delta State pensioners that are without any other regular income after retirement from service, would either wait for at least four years (for those with connections) or wait for endless years, most times to death, before any payment, if at all. One then begins to wonder what the Delta State Government expects such pensioners to be doing to sustain their lives and family all these years they are forced to wait for their gratuities?
Even at that, they still find ways to cheat Delta State pensioners as they retire. It was revealed that if the month one is required to retire falls within one’s birthday, that person does not get paid for that month. Whereas, the situation with pensioners in Delta State’s neighbours, is different. In Edo State, regular income/payment of gratuities come in just after two months of civil servants’ retirement. And this has been the situation since Adams Oshiomhole’s era till date. A level 16 Civil Servant in Edo States is said to receive higher pay as income while those in the same level in Delta State receive less. Despite this cheating, those in Delta State still do not get to be paid their gratuities as at when expected.
And it is not because the Delta State Government and its agencies concerned do not have the money to pay the State’s pensioners as they should, otherwise they would not be wasting funds in paying/maintaining MORE APPOINTED AIDES who practically do nothing. It is simply because the past Delta State Governments of James Ibori, Emmanuel Uduaghan and the present Government of Ifeanyi Okowa, are nothing but wicked, selfish and greedy politicians who are only interested in their bellies and status. The above pathetic situation has been the pathetic situation of pensioners/retirees in Delta State since 1999 till date. The current Governor Okowa-led Delta State Government in particular, is fond of creating new Government Agencies and Departments every now and then, which are pure duplicates of existing Government Departments/Ministries, that are without clearly defined functions. But are nothing but avenues through which public funds, that ought to be used to developed the State’s infrastructural needs, are wasted in the name of these frivolous State Government Portfolios here and there that are with no defined roles.
That is how heartless and wicked these Delta State politicians are. Yet, the present Delta State Governor has been on an ‘appointment frenzy’ as he keeps dishing out so-called jobs to his supposed loyalists/supporters and even his daughter, as one Aide, SA/SSA this or PA that, who practically do nothing other than to receive salaries and enjoy fringe benefits of public office. In the midst of all this, Delta State road networks are broken and in deplorable states, insecurity pervades the land as Security Agencies do not receive needed support from the State Government, the power supply in the State is next to nothing, the basic infrastructural level in the State is at zero – with nothing to attract any serious-minded investor to the State. The situation is just sad and rather unfortunate!
Zik Gbemre.
March 9, 2020.
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With recent reports that concerned Delta State Local Government Contributory Retirees, said that N5.9 billion unremitted contributory deductions from their salaries, is currently lying fallow in the Delta State Government’s coffer while their backlog of arrears are not paid, we could not help but wonder what sort of level of wickedness is this being perpetrated by the Delta State Government against Local Government Council retirees? If the said report is true, then it means the relevant Delta State Government officials are obviously collaborating with Commercial Bank officials to handle such funds to gather huge interests for them, and use same for their personal purposes.
According to the said Council Retirees, the development stemmed from Delta State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa’s reported ‘failure’ to appropriate and release substantial amount of the monies to the State Bureau of Local Government Pensions to clear backlog of arrears of pension owed Local Government and Public Primary Schools’ retirees in the state. The claim was contained in a statement signed by Messrs Mode Augustine, Sir Henry Tukpe, Allensgate Agbanobi and Onwundijo Christopher on behalf of the said retirees.
My take is this, whatever interest that must have gathered as a result of such funds left lying fallow, should all be given to the pensioners who are the rightful owners of the said funds, and who are daily suffering from the non-payment of their rightful gratuities and entitlements. With such development and reports, we can see the level of wickedness of Nigerian politicians, who collaborate with bank officials to continually cheat the common pensioners for their own money. Come to think of it, why would the Delta State Government purposely delay, or unwillingly to appropriate and release funds meant for Pensioners? Why should State Council and Public-School Teachers be owed backlog of arrears of pension, after offering and sacrificing their time, sweat and years of active service to the State and the public? How can civil servants/Teachers in the State’s public school, sacrificially put in 35 years of their lives and sweats, yet their gratuities are deliberately delayed, or not paid at all until they eventually get sent to an early grave?
Truth be told, we are tired of hearing such sad and disturbing news about pensioners/retirees of Delta State and what they are yearly made to pass through by the Politicians in the State Government. To say that Delta State Pensioners have been having it very rough and tough in life, is to put it mildly. Recall that we recently wrote on how it was observed that, for Pensioners in Delta State who have ‘connections’ in Government and the Public Service Authorities, it takes between 4 - 5 years after retirement, before they are paid a dime of their gratuities, which nobody actually understands the exact amount that is due to them. In fact, none, about-to-retire civil servant in Delta State know exactly how much he/she will be paid as gratuity when they retire. And for those who do not have any ‘connections’ in Government and within the Authorities of the Public Service, their expectant of their gratuities are without any number of years. Hence, many of them are sent to their early grave without receiving a dime of their gratuities. So, Delta State pensioners that are without any other regular income after retirement from service, would either wait for at least four years (for those with connections) or wait for endless years, most times to death, before any payment, if at all. One then begins to wonder what the Delta State Government expects such pensioners to be doing to sustain their lives and family all these years they are forced to wait for their gratuities?
Even at that, they still find ways to cheat Delta State pensioners as they retire. It was revealed that if the month one is required to retire falls within one’s birthday, that person does not get paid for that month. Whereas, the situation with pensioners in Delta State’s neighbours, is different. In Edo State, regular income/payment of gratuities come in just after two months of civil servants’ retirement. And this has been the situation since Adams Oshiomhole’s era till date. A level 16 Civil Servant in Edo States is said to receive higher pay as income while those in the same level in Delta State receive less. Despite this cheating, those in Delta State still do not get to be paid their gratuities as at when expected.
And it is not because the Delta State Government and its agencies concerned do not have the money to pay the State’s pensioners as they should, otherwise they would not be wasting funds in paying/maintaining MORE APPOINTED AIDES who practically do nothing. It is simply because the past Delta State Governments of James Ibori, Emmanuel Uduaghan and the present Government of Ifeanyi Okowa, are nothing but wicked, selfish and greedy politicians who are only interested in their bellies and status. The above pathetic situation has been the pathetic situation of pensioners/retirees in Delta State since 1999 till date. The current Governor Okowa-led Delta State Government in particular, is fond of creating new Government Agencies and Departments every now and then, which are pure duplicates of existing Government Departments/Ministries, that are without clearly defined functions. But are nothing but avenues through which public funds, that ought to be used to developed the State’s infrastructural needs, are wasted in the name of these frivolous State Government Portfolios here and there that are with no defined roles.
That is how heartless and wicked these Delta State politicians are. Yet, the present Delta State Governor has been on an ‘appointment frenzy’ as he keeps dishing out so-called jobs to his supposed loyalists/supporters and even his daughter, as one Aide, SA/SSA this or PA that, who practically do nothing other than to receive salaries and enjoy fringe benefits of public office. In the midst of all this, Delta State road networks are broken and in deplorable states, insecurity pervades the land as Security Agencies do not receive needed support from the State Government, the power supply in the State is next to nothing, the basic infrastructural level in the State is at zero – with nothing to attract any serious-minded investor to the State. The situation is just sad and rather unfortunate!
Zik Gbemre.
March 9, 2020.
We Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes