The Enugu State Government said it has identified 2,640 ghost and deceased pensioners still listed on its payroll during a verification process.

Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, Secretary to the State Government, who disclosed this on Sunday, August 25, 2024, said payments to local government retirees have also commenced as part of Governor Peter Mbah’s initiative to clear outstanding pensions and gratuities.

He said the verification process, conducted by the Local Government Pensioners Biometric Verification Committee, has led to payments for over 7,000 local government pensioners.

According to him, this includes payments totalling nearly half a billion naira in July, with 989 newly verified retirees who had not previously been included in the pension scheme.

Prof. Onyia disclosed that the Local Government Pensions Board had been paying 8,760 retirees as of April 2024, contrary to the 7,109 verified pensioners.

The SSG frowned at the level of fraud in the pensions system, noting that records provided by the Local Government Pensions Board indicated that the state had been paying over 8760 local government retirees as of April 2024 against the 7109 verified pensioners.

He restated the state’s commitment to clearing all arrears, adding that the payment mode adopted by the state would guarantee that backlogs were phased out within the timeline set out by the government.

“This administration will continue to support our citizens, particularly our senior citizens who dedicated their time and energy to serving the state. We will soon phase out all arrears inherited by the administration,” he said.

“We are reforming the pensions system through strong institutional policies that would make it difficult for corrupt elements to find their way into the scheme. We have been able to digitalize the institution with measures that would make every transaction and payment transparent, accountable and traceable."