The Abia Pensioners’ Forum has accused Gov. Alex Otti of failing to fulfil campaign promises on pension and gratuity payment.
The group said the administration has turned “campaign rhetoric into governance reality” for pensioners in the state.
Addressing journalists in Umuahia on Monday, Coordinator of the Forum, Mr Okey Kanu, said pensioners are still owed arrears as high as 60 months.
He noted that gratuity was last paid in Abia in 2002.
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Kanu recalled that Otti repeatedly promised during the 2015, 2019 and 2023 campaigns to clear all pension and gratuity arrears if elected.
He quoted from an open letter Otti wrote to former Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu in July 2018, where he condemned non-payment of pensioners and demanded empathy.
“A debtor has no right to tell his creditor the conditions under which he will pay,” Kanu said, quoting the 2018 letter.
He added that the Forum adopts the same treatise verbatim against the current administration.
According to him, since May 2023 the Otti administration has made several unfulfilled promises.
These include pledges to clear arrears by December 2023, March 2024, and to pay gratuity by March, April, May and July 2026.
The Forum also faulted an alleged attempt to force pensioners to sign a “waiver” or “forfeiture” of arrears.
It further criticised the Governor’s September 2025 media chat claim that no pensioner is owed, and his July 23, 2026 statement that payment will be in phases after reconciliation.
“What is there to reconcile? Every retiree has an Authorisation Letter stating pension and gratuity,” Kanu queried.
He urged government to isolate disputed cases and pay others, or give the Pensions Board and Ministry of Finance a deadline to conclude.
The pensioners lamented that the value of gratuity has depreciated by over 5,000 per cent since 2002.
They also noted that former Local Government Chairmen and Councillors who served two years have been paid, while career civil servants who served 35 years are ignored.
“Many pensioners have died without receiving these benefits. Those alive need it for food, drugs and health,” he said.
The Forum appealed to Otti to “have mercy and show humanity” to pensioners.
It called for immediate commencement of payment, even if phased with gratuity first.
The group also demanded a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to verify the half-payment made between June 2023 and March 2024.
“We urge the Governor to fulfil his campaign promises. It is he who is alive that can enjoy the good infrastructure,” the Forum stated.
The briefing was also signed by others members of the group’s steering committee.
They included Emma Onyenyiri (Secretary), Emmanuel Chigbu, Okey Gbaruko, Zimiro Nwokocha and Godfirst Umesiaku.
