Ebonyi State governor Francis Nwifuru has said his administration would engage external auditors to audit the accounts of the 13 local government areas in the state.
Nwifuru who made the disclosure when he received the members of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ebonyi State Council yesterday, decried the discrepancies in the payment of salaries and retirement benefits at the council level.
He said it had been observed that salaries and pensions are increasing simultaneously in the system. “There’s a lot of falsification of age in the service, some will continue to falsify their age until 70 years and above when they will no longer be productive.
“Part of the reasons they engage on the falsification is to remain in service because there is no guarantee that they will receive their benefits when they retire. That is what we are trying to discourage by making sure that pensioners receive their entitlements as and when due.”
Governor Nwifuru noted that in the process of the on- going payment of gratuities to state civil and public servants, he has directed the committee to extend the deadline until all the gratuities are cleared.
Earlier the state NUP chairman, Mr Donatus Nwofe, commended the governor for embarking on the payment of arrears of gratuities to retired workers.
“For the payment of gratuities to civil/ public servants from the year 1996 to 2021, you have done what Napoleon Bonaparte could not do and given Ebonyi pensioners hope. They can now feed three times a day, pay for their medications and children’s school fees, consequently they will live longer”.
The chairman disclosed that the governor will be appreciated with an award from the national body and state council of the union.
