The ongoing disparity in payments of pension and gratuity to retired civil servants from Kogi Central and Kogi East is against the law, Igala socio-cultural group Igala Vanguard has said.
In a statement signed by Engr Lawrence Akpa, it was revealed that an investigation launched by Igala Vanguard allegedly confirmed that retired civil servants from Kogi Central and of Ebira extraction get preferential treatment in the payment of their pensions and gratuities compared to their counterparts from Kogi East.
It was further revealed that payment of gratuity for Kogi easterners, not minding the rank, stands at N100,000, while their counterparts from Kogi Central get a lump sum of between N1 million to N5 million as directed by the state government.
“This is also applicable to payments of pension to beneficiaries, as people from Kogi Central, the governor’s extraction usually get maximum attention and huge payments compared to the people from Kogi East.
“This development is saddening and had being in practice in the last six years in Kogi State”, the group said.
Igala Vanguard added that: “Efforts to confirm the unfortunate development fell on deaf ears, as many workers confronted in the state pension board confirmed it was an instruction from above, with fear of losing their jobs.
“The state chapter of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) could not be reached, as at the time of filing this report.
“Some pensioners who had the opportunity of expressing their feelings confirmed that their friends in Kogi Central have reduced them to a laughing stock, saying with the Governor of Kogi State from the Central, they have an edge in payments of pensions and gratuities, ahead of people of Kogi East.
“It is unheard of. The ongoing disparity in pension payments is not happening in any part of the country, except in Kogi State at the instance of the state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.”
____
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2022 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
