54 People Died Waiting For Pension

54 retired members of staff of Local Government workers in Akwa Ibom State are reported to have died while waiting for their retirement benefits to be paid by the state Government.This was disclosed by the chairman, Board of Trustees, Association for the Welfare of Retired Local Government Staff,Emmanuel Usoro.Addressing newsmen in Uyo last week, Emmanuel Usoro blamed the state government for the plight of retirees in the state. Usoro alleged that the pension arrears of employees who retired from 2009-2014, had not been paid due to inadequate allocation to the pension board.

He blamed the death on the failure of the state government to remit its own share of 2.5 per cent available to Local Government Pension Board.“More that 54 of our members have died while waiting for their benefits; others are suffering and may die if immediate help does not reach to them. The poor funding of the Local Government Pension Board has resulted in the inability of the board to pay the backlogs of pension arrears for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014,” he said