Protest: Delta retirees set to lock horns with Oborevwori, Oct 5

By Jon Egie

Retirees in Delta State under the aegis of Association of Contributory Retirees (ACR) will on Thursday next week, October 5, lock horns with the Delta State Governor, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori in protest of plan by the Association of Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON Delta State to extort the sum of N4 million from each retiree’s gratuity take home benefits.

Notice of the protest was contained in a Communique issued at the end of an emergency general meeting of ACR held in Ozoro, September 20 and signed by Chief Mrs Ejieh Helen Chionye (Chairperson of ACR) and Prince Ftuvwede Gordons (Secretary of ACR)

The meeting which was attended by over 3000 retirees from across the State exhausted deliberation on the plan by ALGON to deduct the sum of N4 million from each retiree’s gratuity take home benefit.

The retirees resolved to resist the evil, wicked and inhuman plan spearheaded by Hon Victor Ebonka, Chairman of ALGON to further increase the sufferings and hardship retirees have been exposed to for the past seven years that their gratuities had remained unpaid.

The Oct 5, protest will be the 12th since agitation for the payment of over due gratuities began in Delta State.

Governor Sheriff Oborevwori inherited the problem from his predecessor, ex governor Ifeanyi Okowa who paid deaf ears to all eleven protests staged earlier to the Government House, Asaba.

Oborevwori on assumption of office as Governor sought way to resolve the problem and granted approval to the ALGON to obtain N40 billion loan to defray part of the debts owed the retirees latest August 2023.

On Sept 1st, ALGON invited leadership of ACR to a meeting at the office of the SSG in Asaba to discuss modalities for the payment. During the meeting, the retirees were taken aback when Hon Victor Ebonka introduced ALGON hired consultant who on a projector, displayed the take home of each category of retirees, using a strange template and indicating a shortfall of N4 million from each retiree’s gratuity.

The deductions, they believe, would obviously go to the pockets of ALGON.

The retirees who had earlier been acquainted with the content of their take home according to the template the state government through the office of Auditor General (local government) has been using to pay gratuities since 2012 when the scheme began, rejected the new arrangement and petitioned the state governor, Oborevwori to intervene and call ALGON to order.

They stressed that should nothing be heard from the government regarding commencement of payment of the gratuities with the old and original template at the end of September 2023, then it would be taken that the Governor was in connivance and complicit in the attempt by ALGON to defraud them and hence, they would be guests to the Government House on October 5 where they would lock horns with the governor until the matter is resolved to their benefit.