Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has reiterated that his administration will not revisit the memorandum of Agreement (MoA) and demands of some prisoners in the state which he described as dishonest pensioners.
Governor Otti maintained his position on the pension saga in the state during the monthly media parley held at government house in Umuahia on Thursday.
Governor Otti said he cannot deal with the complaining pensioners because they started on a dishonest ground.
In his words; “Once you start from a dishonest point of view, I cannot deal with you.
“They are very dishonest, the pensioners themselves are happy that they were paid, these people signed.
The governor also accused the pensioners of not owning up to their mistake in the negotiation process as well as being alleging that it is also the interference of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
“Our Pensioners are honest people but their leaders are dishonest, we don’t deal with dishonest people. If you made a mistake just say I made a mistake, don’t say I didn’t sign. Don’t say I was deceived to sign, you went to school, you served through, somebody was owing you, they kept quiet all this time, some of them for ten years.
“I have investigated and I found out that it’s PDP, including their lawyer, he’s a PDP lawyer, so if they are not stupid why would they hire a lawyer who has owed them for 10 years to come and despising someone who offers to pay. And since I began to pay I have been paying hundred percent on the 28th of every month.” Governor Otti said.
While scoring his administration on regular payment of pension since inception of office, Governor Otti said out of magnanimity, he moved to ensure that the pensioners are paid backlog and hundred percent regularly.
“Somebody moved out to say I want to clear all these backlogs and they were excited, I have told this story several times…
“They have walked away from everything and I said no, it’s not fair. Genuine pensioners are happy everywhere…
Governor Otti however maintained that he will not revisit the demands of the pensioners as he has closed the negotiation.
“I have finished with them, they said they have an option, they can go to court, the question you should ask them is why didn’t they go to court in the last 10 years?
“I think we have sufficiently dealt with the matter…
so if somebody is unhappy that he’s been paid his hundred percent pension every month, he should return the one that he has been paid and continue wearing black.
“I read two days ago, where they said they never signed, I said yes, we’re now getting there, before, they said they were deceived, and of course genuine pensioners have disowned them.
“They want us to call them for negotiation, I will not call them, if they don’t like what is happening they should return all the money they have been paid and declare a dispute so we can now deal with the dispute…
‘I don’t deal with dishonest people.” Governor Otti said.
BACKGROUND
The leadership of the Abia State Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) had signed MoA with the government which contained the forfeiture of the unpaid gratuities of the retirees.
A group of pensioners, under the aegis of the Concerned Abia Pensioners, said the NUP did not carry them along in the agreement it reached with the government, but expressed the hope that the governor would take a second look at the decision. They said they would not mind if the governor cleared the gratuity arrears in installments.
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