Angry retirees protesters reportedly chased away the Chief of Staff to the Delta State Governor, Mr David Edebvie on Tuesday after failed attempts to calm protesters.
WITHIN NIGERIA learnt that the Government House was stormed by the protesting retirees over the alleged refusal of the state government to implement harmonization of their pension according to the N18,000 minimum wage.
The Chief of Staffs to the Governor was rejected by the retirees while trying to address them on behalf of the Governor that they were only interested in seeing the Governor and the Chief of Staff left the retirees after several attempts to get their attention failed.
Several other functionaries including the Special Adviser on Labour and Servicom, Mike Okeme intervened but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
The retirees under the aegis of Association of Contributory Retirees (ACR), are protesting the refusal of the State government to implement the harmonization of their pension according to the N18, 000 minimum wage.
The over 100 retirees from the 25 L.G.A’s assembled at the gate of the Delta State Government House, Asaba to appeal for the immediate intervention of government.
In the address issued by the Chairman of ACR, Comrade Agbaka Isaiah, he lamented that, despite the correction of the anomaly after dialogue with government for the past seven years, no changes have been made.
According to Agbaka, “Our major problem is Government delay to correct the disadvantaged position we are placed by the use of obsolete N7, 500 to calculate our terminal benefit instead of N18, 000 which the retirees earned before they retired into the scheme”.
He recalled that ever since the committee constituted by the state Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, submitted their report as approved in principle at the State Exco, the interest aspect has not been implemented.
“Your Excellency, upon your assumption of office in this second tenure, we were informed that you are setting up a committee to discuss the interest when the final report will be endorsed and implemented. We are becoming restive and worried about the delay in constituting the committee so as to conclude this age long issue,” he said.
While Vice Chairman of ACR, Mr Anthony Osanekwu decried the situation, he mentioned that the issue warranted various pensioners across Delta to come for the protest.
He maintained that the decision of the State government to pay them according to the N7,500 minimum wage is a breach of the pension law, stating that, we retired with the N18,000 minimum wage, and the law of pension say you should be paid based on salary which you retired.
The retirees urged the State government threatened to bring their families to occupy Government House should government fail to address their grievances.