Gov Otti to review  agreement with Abia pensioners

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, says he will review the agreement he allegedly signed with the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners,NUP, to forfeit the arrears of pensions owed them by past administrations in the state.

The leadership of the NUP in the state had been on the warpath with the Governor, insisting that they never signed any agreement to forfeit the arrears of pensions owed them by past administrations.

However, Otti accepted to review the alleged agreement when he received the NUP National President, Mazi Godwin Abumisi,in his office.

Abumisi had appealed to the Governor for forgiveness on behalf of the the State Chapter of the Union over the controversial agreement.

Otti narrated how he invited the leadership of the Abia State NUP over for discussions and how they twisted the whole story against him, stressing that the visit of the national leadership would not have been necessary if the leadership of NUP in the State spoke in the way and manner the national president did.

Accepting the plea, the Governor directed his Senior Special Assistant on Labour Matters, Comrade Godson Aǹucha, to lead the negotiation and revisit the issues with the NUP leadership in the state, with the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Kenneth Kalu, Chief of Staff to the Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma and Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties, Dr. Betty Emeka-Obasi as members of the negotiation committee.

His words, "So, I will still have the SSA Labour lead the discussion. And all the people on this table are part of it, including the SSG. So that we can engage, put on our thinking caps, and know how to resolve the problem.

"I'm happy that you (NUP National Executives) are here today. So, my response is that we will look at it. Like you know and you have also said, we are not culpable. Some of them (arrears) date back 10 years or even more. 

"So, it is something that we need to manage. I don't have an answer to it now. I don't even know how much it is. Because it keeps climbing. And as more people retire, the number goes up. 

"But I believe that there must always be a way to solve a problem once the will is there. And I can assure you from this side of the table, the will is there to solve the problem.

"They (NUP State leaders) were not the ones that called me. I was the one that invited them. After I took over, I said, Please, can we look at this? The first meeting we had here, they were surprised that I called them. The meeting was held here, I presided over it. I now set up a committee.

“I say it all the time; it is only God that does not make mistakes. The issue is not about making mistakes; it is about learning from your mistakes. But you should not deny when you make mistakes. You should not pretend that what you said or what you did, that you didn’t do it.

“You should not also come and tell lies. If there is anything in all these that brought us here today, it is about lies. Ask Abia people, one thing that this government does not do is tell lies. We are people with integrity.

"What we tried to do, just to set the record straight, when we came in, we looked at the total indebtedness. It was too much.

“The leadership said that what is important to them is not the arrears, but that it is for them to be able to plan. That, if I can start paying full pension from the beginning of my administration, I should forget about the arrears. “I said no, it is not fair. It is like a man that is down; you can’t also kick him. A man whose hands have been tied behind, when you slap him, he can’t respond…But I have secured 10 billion Naira to pay you people, to take out all the indebtedness. They were happy as they were being owed several months of arrears, as at that time."

The Governor further noted that they distributed the payment, so that people who were owed one million Naira and less, got 100% of their money, while those that theirs ran into millions were paid up to 60% in the distribution of the 10 billion, and everybody was happy.

Earlier, the National President of the pensioners, Mazi Godwin Abumisi, had commended Governor Otti's achievements in office, saying that they came to plead with the Governor to forgive the leadership of the NUP in the state and revisit the lingering issue of pensions and gratuity, pointing out that whatever document they had signed with the state government concerning their pensions was signed in ignorance. 

"I am here to plead with you to tear that document. After they had signed it, they reported to me at Abuja, and I said it is not done. 

"We are not here today to argue whether they did it or not. Your Excellency, I plead, forgive them; they didn't know what they were doing.," he said.