Kogi Assembly urges Gov Wada to review, harmonize pension administration

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Kogi House of Assembly has called on the State Government to review and harmonize its policy on pension administration in the state to enable effective and efficient administration.

The call was contained in a resolution of the house following the adoption of a motion on the issue presented by Mr Linus Enenche (APC-Olamaboro) at plenary on Wednesday.

Enenche in soliciting the support of his colleagues decried the the activities of saboteurs in non-payment of monthly pensions in line with the state pension policies adding that the development had brought untold hardship to the pensioners.

He said that pension allowances were meant to succour retired civil servants on retirement to enable them meet their needs but lamented that the way and manner they were being treated was uncalled for.

Reiterating the need for the harmonisation of the pension allowances, Enenche said the total monthly pension for a retired Assistant Director in the state stood at N25,000 describing it as out of tune with the present economic realities.

According to the legislator, investigation into non-adherence to policies and government efforts at fishing out bad eggs in the system had yielded little or no positive results.

He therefore called for a holistic check with the aim of ensuring payment of all arrears of gratuity and pension to deserving retired workers.

Seconding the motion, Abdulmumuni Ibrahim (APC-Ankpa 1) said the motion was timely and quite necessary adding that the harmonisation would help check corruption in the system.

John Abah (PDP-Ibaji) supporting the motion, said the matter deserved serious attention as pensioners who had served for 35 years or attained 60 years of age should be treated with respect and not the hardship being meted to them.

Ruling on the motion, Speaker of the house, Alhaji Momoh-Jimoh Lawal adopted the motion with overwhelming voice votes in support and appealed the state governor, Capt. Idris Wada to expedite action on the harmonisation of the pensions.