Anambra State pensioners have called out ex-governors Peter Obi, Willie Obiano and incumbent Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo declining to harmonise pension thereby leaving pensioners who committed 35 years of active service to the state to wallow in penury.
This was the position of some pensioners who spoke with Daily Independent in Awka during the eighth State Delegate Conference of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) tagged “Life of Pensioners in Anambra State and Local Governments Without Harmonisation Of Pension Since the Year 2000. “
Mr. Polycap Onwubiko, who retired as a Deputy Director (Administration) in the state Ministry of Justice, revealed that what he was receiving as pension when he retired in February 2011 is still what he is receiving as pension in 2025, stressing that irrespective of the quantum of money at the disposal of the state government, government has refused to review their pensions; leaving them to suffer over lack of funds for their medical needs and other needs.
Onwubiko recalled that the Nigeria Union of Pensioners wrote letters to Peter Obi and Willie Obiano for pensions to be upgraded. He said both governors instructed the heads of service under their regimes to conduct audits of pensioners which they did but the governors dumped the audit reports
Onwubiko further disclosed that Soludo requested for the conduct of pensioners’ audit in his first, second, third and fourth year in office but all were to no avail because according to him, no positive action has been taken by the Soludo administration to ameliorate the plights of pensioners in Anambra State.
The retired Deputy Director, however, pointed out that the major request of Anambra pensioners from the government is pension harmonisation to enable them to live meaningful lives, noting that the government’s refusal to review pensions to meet current economic realities in the country amounts to disrespect for senior citizens
Also Chief Richard Obi, a retired Head of Local Government Administration, said that the monthly pension of Anambra pensioners is nothing to write home about and that pension harmonisation has not been done for many years. He said they can’t buy anything with the little pension they received monthly and they also need a change in the executive as one person has been on the saddle for 9 years playing to the gallery.
They said it was only the administration of Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige which looked at the plight of pensioners and harmonised their pensions.
Meanwhile the newly elected chairman of Anambra State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Comrade Anthony Chukwuemeka Ugozor, said while speaking to journalists shortly after his election over the weekend, assured that the plight of Anambra pensioners will change for good as he plans to intensify consultations with government to achieve pension harmonisation and other benefits for pensioners in the state.
