N30bn unpaid pensions/gratuity by Delta Govt. unsettles pensioners

A whopping N30 billion unpaid pensions/gratuity by the Delta state government, has unsettled pensioners in the state with six of the pensioners allegedly feared dead of hunger, while over 20 others are said to be admitted into various hospitals across the state for some undisclosed sicknesses.
It was gathered that pensioners in the 25 local government areas of the state had last Monday met in Asaba where they resolved a 21-day ultimatum be issued to state government to pay their pensions/gratuity or face their unrest.
But a high-ranking media aide to the governor, who did not want his name in the print, on Tuesday confirmed that the state was making frantic efforts to offset the unpaid pensions/gratuity, adding: “It used to be above N30 billion, but the governor had paid over N4 billion, the economic is very poor but we are working hard to ensure we reduce the debt burden.”
While lamenting the perilous times the state is currently facing, the media aide explained that the unpaid debt burden was inherited, and appealed to the pensioner to exercise restraint to enable the state government attend to their needs.
Investigation revealed that pensioners in the state currently suffer untold hardship over their unpaid pensions/gratuity over the years and as many of them who took ill cannot afford their hospitals’ bills, while those on rents have been thrown out for their inability to pay their rents prompt.
Some of the pensioners who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity lamented: “We cannot afford to pay our children school fees, rents, or feed very, we are suffering. Okowa should pay us our pension/gratuity; we cannot even pay our hospitals’ bills.”
Although the state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, had blamed the unpaid pensions/gratuity of the state pensioners on the poor economic and the continued pipe vandalization, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress Party (APC) in the state, Chief Frankly Okoh, said the governor’s excuse was not sufficient and tenable for the nonpayment of pensions/gratuity to the “senior citizens” and called on the governor to ensure pensioners are paid promptly, stressing, “Pensioners are senior citizens, they should be paid promptly, the governor has no excuse.”
In swift reaction, the state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Chief Robert Nwanze, however lauded the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) for taking verification to the homes and hospitals to capture sick and incapacitating members, and appealed to the state government to ensure prompt payments of their pensions/gratuity.