Retirees of several parastatals in Abia State have again cried out in agony over the non- payment of their 13 months pension arrears which accumulated under the present administration.
The pensioners resumed their cries and pleading following endless waiting for Governor Alex Otti to pay them having given assurances on several occasions to clear the arrears.
The parastatal retirees trapped in the pension arrears conundrum include those of the Abia State Newspapers, the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia(BCA), the State Council for Arts and Culture, and the Abia State Housing and Property Development Corporation.
The affected pensioners shed their tears of agony and frustration in a letter dated September 12, 2025 written by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the parastatals and addressed to Governor Otti through his Chief of Staff, Pastor Caleb Ajagba.
In the letter signed by the JAC Chairman, Comrade Chinkwe Ikenyi and Secretary, Chief Ikoro John Ikoro, made available to the media Monday, the retirees recounted the untold hardships that have become their lot since December 2023.
They recounted the genesis of their ordeal, saying that it started when the Governor stopped the payment of their pensions in December 2023 “on the erroneous impression and false premise that parastatals were not “verifiable'”.
However, the retirees said that they succeeded in correcting the erroneous impression following a letter they wrote to Governor Otti in June 2024 proving to him that they are pensionable.
Having been convinced that retirees of parastatals are as pensionable as their counterparts in the ministries, Otti was said to have directed that the pensioners of parastatals should undergo verification.
JAC recalled that the verification exercise was “unduly delayed by the relevant government agencies” hence the resumption of the pension payment kept dragging.
Meanwhile, when the issue came up in one of his monthly media chats, Otti had assured the pensioners that their money was “intact and will be paid to them” as soon as their certification was concluded.
Though the verification exercise had eventually been carried out, the pensioners lamented that the 13 months arrears have not been paid “contrary to the assurances” from the Abia Chief Executive.
“During these 13 months, parastatals pensioners have faced untold hardships, including deaths of many of our members, forcing many of us to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates for our survival,” JAC leaders said in their letter.
They stated that “after frantic efforts and representations to government” Governor Otti approved the resumption of payment of the paused pensions with effect from January 2025.
But the parastatals pensioners contend that nothing has been done in respect of the 13 months arrears that accrued during the period of payment stoppage, thereby exacerbating their hardships in this harsh economic situation.
The retirees of parastatals, therefore, pleaded with the Governor to treat their case the same way he treated the retirees of ministries when he cleared the 60 percent pension arrears owed them under his administration.
“At the end of September, it would be nine months since we logically expected Governor Otti to do same for us by ensuring that our pension arrears are cleared in order to put us at par with the ministries,” JAC said.
