Delta LG & Primary Sch Retirees Protest N48.4bn
Retired local government workers and primary school teachers in Delta State have protested the refusal of the state government to pay their gratuities and pensions for over seven (7) years.
The pensioners from the 25 local government areas of the state, protested during the week in Asaba, carrying placards with various inscriptions, such as, ‘Teachers built you Okowa, do not destroy us’, and ‘Governor, our pension and gratuity is our right’, and many more.
The spokesman for the protesters, Mr Augustine, said, “We have fulfilled our part through contributions to the pension scheme, but the government refuses to pay us. This protest is inevitable after negotiations yielded no results.”
“The backlog of unpaid accrued rights, which was determined from April 2011 to the December 2019, was N48.4bn for both the local government employees and primary school teachers.”
They lamented that the aim of the Contributory Pension Scheme had been defeated as they could not receive their gratuities and pensions over seven years after retirement.
The protesters refused to be addressed by Head of Service, Mr Reginald Bayoko, at the Government House gate, saying they wanted the Governor to address them.