Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has approved the payment of pension arrears owed to surviving retirees of the Abia State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) who retired between 2000 and 2010.
The approval followed a humanitarian appeal by the affected retirees under the platform “Surviving Abia ADP Retirees 2000–2010,” who had sought government intervention after being excluded from the State’s pension policy introduced in 2011.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, the request was submitted through the Office of the Ombudsman/Public Complaints in collaboration with the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
The statement explained that when the ADP was originally established, employment in the programme was not pensionable. However, the policy was revised in 2011 by the State Government, making ADP jobs pensionable. Workers who had served and retired between 2000 and 2010 were consequently left out of the arrangement.
Following reports that the Otti led administration had cleared a decade-long backlog of pension arrears owed to pensioners in the State and restored regular pension payments while also maintaining prompt salary payments for serving workers, the surviving ADP retirees approached the Governor with a request for redress.
The statement noted that Governor Otti’s decision to grant the appeal was driven by compassion and a commitment to the welfare of senior citizens who had endured hardship for years.
It said the Governor’s approval was aimed at addressing the long-standing omission and providing relief to the retirees who had faced difficulties similar to other pensioners in the State before the current administration came into office.
The Government also highlighted several outstanding salary arrears already settled by the present administration, including 32 months of salary arrears owed to workers of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, formerly known as Abia Polytechnic.
Others include salary arrears owed to disengaged staff of the institution, 26 months of unpaid salaries to workers of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), 11 months owed to staff of Abia State University, and 36 months of salary arrears owed to workers of the Abia State College of Education Technical, Arochukwu (ASCETA).
“The administration has also settled several months of salary arrears owed to workers under the Abia State Health Management Board, including Primary School teachers and staff of the Secondary Education Management Board”.
The statement added that the decision further underscores the administration’s resolve to correct long-standing injustices and improve the welfare of both serving and retired public workers.
It described the approval as “a practical demonstration of Governor Otti’s belief that governance must be about the welfare of the people”.
