ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The sorry tales of the senior citizens in Nigeria have continued as retired judges in Abia State continue to fight for their retirement benefits.
Successive governments in the state have, since 2007, deliberately left the former judges to live in penury.
The retired judges in 2020, in a desperate effort to force the government to pay their benefits, dragged the state government before the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NIC).
Unfortunately, as the court case rages, five of the former judges died without getting their benefits, Vanguard reports.
Sadly, many of them that are still living are fighting several different health challenges and unable to afford proper medical care.
According to sources, the previous administrations had made several commitments to pay to no avail, this is as the immediate past Government of Okezie Ikpeazu reportedly promised to pay N10 million to the retired Judges every month, “but only did so for one month.”
Nonetheless, “desirous of bringing the sufferings of the retired jurists to an end, Governor Otti met with the senior citizens on July 25, 2023, and assured them of Government’s resolve to end their sorrow,” a source said.
At a meeting convened by the governor, the retired Judges and their Counsel, Professor Awa Kalu, SAN (a former Attorney General of the state), reportedly agreed to set up a committee to resolve the issue.
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“The committee to be constituted among the retired judges, officials from the Ministry of Justice and relevant officers of government will calculate and confirm the actual sum due to each of the retired Judges or the beneficiaries of those deceased and report back to the Governor within two weeks,” the source said.
Also, the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ikechukwu Uwanna, who was at the meeting, said: “This is to enable the Government set up a pragmatic strategy that would ensure the immediate liquidation of the outstanding retirement benefits.
“His Excellency decried how the state has rewarded its citizen who slaved for the peace, development and progress of Abia State with penury and promised to reverse the trend.”
In a chat with Vanguard, the leader of the retired Judges and a former Chief Judge of the State, Justice Sunday Imo, spoke about the development.
He said: “We are satisfied by the assurances given by Governor Otti and the warm reception he accorded us. He invited us following the harsh treatment we received from the previous administration.
“We took the State Government to court for non-payment of our pension arrears. When Otti assumed office he learned about it and contacted our Counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN.
“He said he did not want that type of embarrassment (to be in court with public servants, much more retired Judges). He said he would want the matter sorted out.
“So, the Governor gave us a date, we went, and he assured us he was going to do everything possible to ensure the matter is settled. We want to believe him.”
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On the number of retired Judges in Abia State, the former Chief Judge said: “17 of us (retired Judges) are still living. We were 22 when we took the matter to court in 2020, but five of our colleagues who instituted the litigation have died.
“We don’t want to continue with the matter in court. If we had wanted to embarrass the Government, we would have publicised it. But people did not know about it except the body of retired Permanent Secretaries.”
On how much they are owed, Justice Imo said: “Not much was owed by the administration of Governor Theodore Orji. The bulk of the whole thing rose during Governor Ikpeazu’s time.
“As at the time we went to court, some of us were owed over N50 million. For instance, at a time, they were paying anything they liked. The pay sometimes, one third, half, and one quarter and the shortfalls alone as of April 2023, my own was close to N10 million.
“The amount is huge. We are not even expecting the Governor to pay the lump sum once, as that may not be possible. All we want is a firm commitment on how to pay the arrears.
“Then let him settle down and start paying regularly and in full. He can now design a way to clear the arrears gradually.”