Enugu, Aug. 26, 2024 – The Enugu State government has uncovered over 2,640 ghost and deceased pensioners on its payroll.
Prof Chidiebere Onyia, the Secretary to the State Government, disclosed this in Enugu at the weekend.
He said the fraud was discovered at the local government level where the Local Government Pensions Board had been paying over 8,760 local government retirees as of April 2024, against the 7109 verified pensioners.
Onyia said the prompt payment of pension in the state was in line with the promise of the governor to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities it inherited.
“Recall that the governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, had earlier promised that his administration was poised to eradicate poverty in the state by clearing the inherited backlog of pensions and other liabilities, and also keep up with its current fiscal responsibility to the citizens, among other measures.
” This will improve our people’s standard of living, raise purchasing power and promote strong and sustainable economic growth in the state.
“We will soon phase out all arrears inherited by the administration. We are reforming the pensions system through strong institutional policies that would make it difficult for corrupt elements to find their way into the scheme.
” We have been able to digitalize the institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment transparent, accountable and traceable,” he added
Onyia said the state government had extended payment of pensions to local government retirees in the state, adding that 7109 local government pensioners received monthly payments of close to half a billion naira in July.
He said over 7000 local government pensioners had since received payments, following the governor’s approval of the recommendations of the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee which conducted the verification. (GBN)
