Abia State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Obinna Oriaku, has assured civil servants in the State that the Contributive Pension Scheme would benefit them and relieve the State government from indebtedness arising from salaries, wages and pensions.
Oriaku who gave the assurance while speaking with newsmen at Abia House of Assembly Complex during a Budget defence recently said that it was a novel idea that emanated from the Federal Government and States government were encouraged to domesticate same in their own interest.
He disclosed that Abia is one of the States that have cued into the innovation that is geared towards alleviating the State in solving the issue of pension of retirees in the near future.
Oriaku, however, revealed that the amount Abia spends on pension alone at the State and Local Governments stand at #450million and #380million respectively and added that the scheme would help ameliorate the debt profile accrued from pension.
The Finance Commissioner also outlined that the Contributive Pension Scheme would help fish out ghost pensioners and workers in the pay system of the State.
While answering questions bordering on his Ministry’s inability to release of funds to Ministries,Departments and Agencies to carryout their statutory functional, Oriaku attributed it to meagre resources and untimely disbursement adding that they had concentrated on MDAs that are key to the five pillar agenda of the administration and more revenue generating than the others.
He further noted that they are prioritizing their spending with respect to the limited resources available at their disposal and promised that all Ministries would be part of the plan in this 2019 financial year.
