Gov. Okowa approves release of N5bn for payment of pension arrears

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Monday approved the release of five billion Naira for the payment of pension arrears in the state.

The State Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, disclosed this in a statement in Asaba.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Aniagwu at a press briefing on Friday hinted that the state government commits over N1.1 billion monthly to settle pension matters in the state.

The Commissioner also said that the state government was planing to release N10 billion to defray pension arrears, particularly for the Local Government Councils workers in the state.

On the approval of the release of the N5 billion, the commissioner said that the sum of N2.5 billion would be deployed to payment of the state retirees pension arrears.

He said the remaining N2.5 billion was released as grant to Local Government Pensions Bureau for the payment of Local Government and primary school retirees.

Aniagwu said that the gesture was part of the government efforts to ameliorate the plight of the affected senior citizens in the state.