…Omo-Agege Promises To Offset Outstanding Pension, Gratuity Within 6 Months
By Godwin-Maria Utuedoye
Ahead of March 11, 2023 governorship election, Pensioners and Retirees in Delta State have assured the Deputy President of the Senate and the All-Progressives Congress gubernatorial candidate, Obarisi Ovie Omo-Agege of their total support.
The Pensioners and Retirees style itself as the Association of Contributory Retirees (ACR), with over 50,000 members across the 25 local governments of the state said that their choice of DSP Omo-Agege as their sole guber candidate is because Delta needs a man that can librate it from bad governance that has become the lot of the oil-rich state.
The group disclosed this at a town hall meeting with the APC governorship candidate at Opute Hall, Ozoro, Isoko South Local Government of the state accused the Governor of Delta State and the Peoples Democratic Party, Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa of wishing Pensioners and Retirees in the state death, hence he refused to pay them their gratuity and pension.
Speaking on behalf of the Pensioners and Retirees in the state, the Chairman, Chief Mrs Helen Ejieh said that because of Governor Okowa’s poor treatment of senior citizens of the state whom he wishes to die without enjoying the fruit of their labour his aspiration to become the Vice President of the country is doomed before it starts.
Chief Ejieh while assuring Senator Omo-Agege of mobilizing over 50,000 votes for him said: “we have over five thousand local government retirees. I am not talking about the state. When we talk of local government retirees, I mean those that retired from primary schools, and those that worked in the council. But as you can see here today, these are just a little percentage of those that retired from primary school. Council workers are not even here.
“As you can see, we have already started doing our work and we know by the grace of God that if it’s only the cry of senior citizens like us God will hear our cry and God will take Governor Okowa down and lift you up because we believe that it is only you who can solve our problems.”
“At a time, he deceived us that he wants to give us N10b if he borrows money. So, when he went to borrow, we calculated that N10b to end in 2016. Yet the man borrowed N150b today, and N200b tomorrow. Look at the recent one now. Just throwing Delta State money anyhow not even remembering that we are leaving. Okowa wants us dead but we don’t want to die. We are not going to die, sir.
“God has sent you to come and rescue us from this heartless government of PDP, in all our meetings, we have been preaching about you. Even when a candidate came to see us, we told him that Omo-Agege will deliver us.
“All our members have their PVC. Like I told them; at our age today if you count the number of people that will vote, I think we have a large number. Let me explain. I can vote as a retiree is it not? And so many of us here. All my children are at the age of voting, they must vote. My pain is their pain.
“Some of us here have grandchildren that are of the age of voting, they are crying. Even my own family and my husband’s family are crying. So, they will vote because of me. So, we have large numbers of people that will vote for you sir.”
Meanwhile, the APC gubernatorial candidate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege urged the Pensioners and Retirees in Delta State to do anything within their power to stay alive to enjoy their benefits, assuring them that their days of pain will soon be over.
Decrying the poor treatment meted out to our mothers, our fathers, our brothers and our sisters who gave the best years of their lives in service of Delta State either as employees of the state government, local government or teachers by the Governor Okowa-led administration promised to liquidate pension liabilities within 6-month of assumption of office.
Omo-Agege said, “I am elated and at the same time, I am sad. Elated because I finally have the opportunity to speak and interact with our retirees who have suffered so much at the hands of Okowa. I’m equally elated that you all decided to respond to this invitation. But with all humiliation when I see your faces, I am very very saddened as to why this kind of wickedness should be visited on our family members.
“I tell people that there is no homestead or household in Delta State that you will go to and you will not see one retiree. The challenges you face know no ethnicity, it knows no language, it knows no religion. You are all Deltans, you are all retirees. The most painful part of it is that you are not asking for a handout, neither are you asking for a favour, it is your right and your entitlement.
“While in service of Delta State, the state government either as a state or through the local government entered into a social contract with you that; every month while you serve, x amount of money will be deducted from your salary.
“And to even make it very sad, we received very sound and reliable information that all these payments, these deductions that they are making from you are normally paid onto a dedicated account. Dedicated in the sense that nobody should touch it, it is only the interest that is supposed to be going.
“But because of Okowa’s own political ambition, we have been reliably informed that Okowa had to deep his hands into that account and that is the money now he is using to fund a vice-presidential campaign.
“Now, we are not against Okowa having any ambition, we don’t grudge Okowa for being ambitious. But he cannot do so to the detriment of our retirees. That is what is wrong and that is what we are against.
“Now what is even more painful is this: this is Delta State, Delta State is supposed to be the richest state in the entire Niger Delta, and Delta State is one of the richest states in Nigeria. Despite all the money that Okowa has received which is over N4.5trn, Okowa has still decided to go on a borrowing spree.
“I want to assure you, we receive a lot of information that we have lost a lot of you because you can’t even afford to go to the hospital, you can’t even afford to eat and at your age moving past the productive cycle in your life nobody expects that at this age anybody will give you job, business or anything. Even if you’re doing business what kind of business can you possibly be doing at this age?
“So, we have information that we’ve lost a lot of you and some right now are sick. We are praying. My prayer for you today is this, and I pray to God every morning that he should keep all of you alive.
“God willing when I emerge as your governor, it’s not far again, it’s next month March 11th. If you all come out as my leader pointed out earlier, if all of you come out, your children come out, your grandchildren come out, it is a mission for vengeance. We have to avenge this on behalf of the people of Delta State, we have to reclaim our state back.
“And God willing I emerge the governor come March 11, and I am sworn in as the governor come May 29 2023. I am making a commitment to you today that within six months of my inauguration, all of your outstanding pensions and gratuities, I will pay.
“But do me a favour; stay alive, stay alive for me it will be a thing of Joy for me after I emerge, as governor, after six months we will have other stakeholder meetings like this and by that time the news I want to hear is that you have been fully paid and that we have not lost anybody, and I want to see smiles in your face because that is what you are entitled to. Because it is the Bible that says; that when the righteous are in power the people will rejoice. And that is what we have in stock for the people of Delta State, that is what we have in store for the people of ACR.
“Now, this commitment I made to ACR also applies to State Retirees because you’ve suffered the same fate, the same predicament. You mean nothing to Okowa. As far as he is concerned, his ambition as the vice-presidential candidate for Atiku is more important. So, whatever promises I’ve made to these retirees here, also apply to the state retirees. So let them know. All I also ask of you is to stay alive,” Omo-Agege added