Imo State Government said it has restructured the pension board to curb fraudulent activities in the pension system and facilitate prompt payment to retiring civil servants.
Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Ford Ozumba, who disclosed this to newsmen in Owerri, yesterday, regretted that the state government has lost millions of naira to fraudulent activities inherent in the system before Governor Hope Uzodimma assumed office and ordered restructuring.
The commissioner, who described the problem as incredible, said some staff of the board below Grade Level 6 were living above their income level because of padding of figures and impersonation of dead staff.
“The state is bleeding, they continue to drag down government with all kinds of fraud, some of them in Grade Level 6 are already richer than their permanent secretary, they own many houses and spend government money as if it’s their own.
“The system we are adopting now does not entail our senior citizens to waste their time in the rain and sun all in the name of waiting for their turn to collect their pension which does not even come sometimes.”
Ozumba, however, assured the pensioners and workers of prompt payment of their entitlements.
