The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had said that former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, cannot be linked to an alleged misappropriation of N32 billion pension and gratuity fund in 2013 when he was yet to assume office.
The Akwa Ibom State NLC chairperson, Comrade Sunny James, stated this while describing an attempt to link the former governor to the alleged fund misappropriation as false and misleading.
In a statement to LEADERSHIP, James recalled that after assuming office in 2015, the former governor made funds available for retirees by introducing the automatic migration from the salaries platform to the pension platform in 2016.
“He (Emmanuel) also initiated the Biometric Verification of all pensioners in the state, which has established the true value of indebtedness, which his successor is now clearing,” James added.
On the alleged N32bn fraud meant for pensions and gratuity of workers, the NLC chairperson recalled that “it was Governor Victor Attah who initiated the compulsory contribution of 7.5% each from both the workers and Government to serve as retirement entitlement to workers after their meritorious service to the state”.
According to him, “this was during the tenure of Comrade Udo K Akpan as the State NLC Chairman and that the monies so deducted were domiciled with the Union Bank Plc;
“That Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly queried the non-provision of any legal framework supporting such deductions and further encouraged the then Governor Godswill Akpabio to suspend and refund such deductions to the respective contributors until such a time that appropriate legislative actions would take place.
“In 2013, Governor Godswill Akpabio ordered the Union Bank Plc to transfer the contributed monies to SKYE Bank Plc for adequate refunds where the Akwa Ibom State Government received their total contributions being half of the amount in the said portfolio while setting up a committee headed by then Head of Civil Service, Mrs. Cecilia Udoessien, to ensure all contributors received their counterpart contributions of 7.5%. The corresponding sum was redistributed to the affected workers, leaving out most teachers and other workers.
“Governor Udom Emmanuel only had to equally make refunds to some of the workers who did not receive theirs during that exercise, which did not also cover all the workers.
“The good news today is that His Excellency, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno, has agreed with the Organised Labour to release all the outstanding 7.5% refunds to the affected workers,” the NLC chairman said.
