Home / Health / Pension scheme not compulsory for all workers says Umahi; Tongue lashes Ebonyi NLC chairman; Receives UNICEF delegation
Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi (4th right); UNICEF Country Representative, Jean Sossou (3rd right); Senior Special Adviser to the Governor, Abuja Liaison Office, Joseph Ekumankama (left); Director of Protocol, Government House, Austin Udude (2nd left) and Special Adviser to the Governor, Special Duties, Onyeabor Ngene (right); with some senior officials of UNICEF when Engr. Umahi visited the Abuja Office of UNICEF on Tuesday. Photo: EBSG

Pension scheme not compulsory for all workers says Umahi; Tongue lashes Ebonyi NLC chairman; Receives UNICEF delegation


Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State receiving a gift from UNICEF Country Representative, Jean Sossou, at the Abuja office of the UN agency on Tuesday. Photo: EBSG
 
  Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, has said  that it is not compulsory for all Ebonyi workers to participate in the state’s  new pension scheme.


Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi (4th right); UNICEF Country Representative, Jean Sossou (3rd right); Senior Special Adviser to the Governor, Abuja Liaison Office, Joseph Ekumankama (left); Director of Protocol, Government House, Austin Udude (2nd left) and Special Adviser to the Governor, Special Duties, Onyeabor Ngene (right); with some senior officials of UNICEF when Engr. Umahi visited the Abuja Office of UNICEF on Tuesday. Photo: EBSG

He announced this during a meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress and its affiliate bodies over the controversy surrounding the new pension law at  the Government House, Abakaliki on Wednesday.

Umahi, who  said  that any civil servant willing to opt out should indicate so  in writing,  added that once  done, the person’s name would be expunged outrightly.
 
“Any worker that doesn’t want to participate in this scheme should in writing, not collectively, state that ‘I don’t want to participate in this pension scheme law.’ Such  person will be excluded from the programme,” the governor said in a statement on Saturday by his Chief Press Secretary, Emma Anya.

Umahi, who reiterated his commitment to the welfare of  workers , said  his administration   would currently afford 5% contribution to the scheme. He reminded workers that the Nigerian constitution  provides in the  concurrent list,  for  each state to make law to suit its  financial capacity.
He flayed the NLC Chairman in the state, Ikechukwu Nwafor, for threatening to call a one-million-man match to protest   alleged  pension scheme deductions from workers salaries.

According to Umahi, the planned protest  would  not be allowed    by the  government.

He said, “We hear that Nwafor is planning to organize a one-million –man march against the government over the pension deductions but I know that not up to that number voted during the last elections.

“We will however organize a three-million march if he goes on with his plan.  We will  not fold our hands and allow anybody or group destroy the government.
“Nwafor should join a political party if he wishes and let us know, as
I have tolerated him and his activities enough and would no longer do so.

“I will no longer recognize the NLC leadership in the state as workers should look beyond the labour leadership toga because it was no longer fashionable.”  
 
He directed that the buses donated by the government to the NLC to convey workers to their duty-posts be withdrawn and given to the state branches  of the National Union of Local Government Employees
(NULGE) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The governor also ordered   “the state’s Fiscal Responsibility Commission to  investigate if the Nwafor-led NLC commercialized the buses and immediately prosecute it if found guilty.
 
 He disclosed that his feelings for workers as a result of the economic challenges hampered the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme even when the scheme would be beneficial to them  .
 
The governor assured that effort was on top gear to put the necessary modalities in place to ensure full implementation of the law, adding that a  pension board which would soon be constituted, would recommend pension fund administrators.
Nwafor, in his reaction, had earlier  said that labour faulted section 12 of the state pension scheme law which stipulates that the employer would make a contribution of five per cent while the employee makes eight per
cent.

On their part, the NUT Chairman, Comrade Joseph Nweke, the NULGE Chairman, Comrade Leonard Nkah and TUC, Comrade Edwin Nwonu, eulogized the governor  for  the new pension scheme and appealed to him to carry them along.

About Global Patriot Staff

Check Also

Zenith Bank to submit 2023 financial statement April 30

By Rukayat Adeyemi Lagos, March 28, 2024 Zenith Bank Plc. on Thursday expressed  optimism that …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *