Delta to ensure accelerated payment of pensions

Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Retired secondary teachers and other allied institutions in Delta state can now heave a sigh of relief as the state government has assured that the payment of their retirement benefits will be dealt with promptly.

Chairman, Delta state Pension Bureau, Anthony Obuh, who confirmed this on Sunday in Asaba to journalists, disclosed that in order to facilitate the pace of the payment of retirees’, Governor Okowa released funds for the defrayment of the benefits in ascending order of N100 million to N150 million to N300 million and N500 million.

Obuh said that the wage bill that stood at the N18 billion when he was appointed to head the bureau in June 2018 had been drastically reduced from the N18 billion to N10 billion and commended the governor for allaying the fears of the senior citizens who were hopeless without the payment of their entitlements.

He assured yet to be paid pensioners to exercise patience, assuring that with the rate the bureau was settling pension arrears theirs would be paid with minimum delay.

Meanwhile, the retirees who pleaded anonymity, however, congratulated Obuh not only for his appointment, but for using the wealth of experience which he garnered in the service of the state to bear proactively on the administration of the pension bureau.