Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state has since published names of the eight scapegoats used as a reference point for the pension and salary siphoning racket whose modus operandi includes the diversion of state funds in the state’s civil service.
Anyanwu Theophilus was an Imo State civil servant, serving dutifully under the Governor Achike Udenwa regime of 1999. He would serve for seven more years before retiring at 60 years as is the mandated age for retirement and then in the course of time, passing away.
But some individuals in the Imo State Public Service who felt that the man held more importance that was accorded to him decided on their own accord to pay him his pensions in his grave. Who signs for it and who collects it remained a mystery for some time till the massive discovery of 4800 ghost workers by the Uzodinma led administration.
Read Also: Breaking: Uzodinma Begins Payment After Dr. Nze Blasted Him
While Sir Theophilus is dead, a former Chief Judge of the State is still alive and these benevolent spirits are also paying him ₦300,000 above what should be his due. Again, nobody knows who collects the surplus, but the eight indiviuals who surprisingly go home with about ₦330,000,000 annually as pension allowances include
(1). Ajokubi, H. A.: ₦5,685, 491. 00);
(2). Njoku Damian: ₦5,042,439.58;
(3). Obasi Canice: ₦3,460, 366.64;
(4). Anyanwu, F. N.: ₦150, 336. 00);
(5). Emenalo, Theresa: ₦3,058,592.00;
(6). John Sunday: ₦2,320,624. 00);
(7). Ajaegbo, E.O.: ₦2,298,910.34; and,
(8). Ekedere, Eunice: ₦32,490, 016. 00.
In another revelation, the bogey pension fraud in Imo state showed that 2,000 of the 23,000 listed pensioners are by the grace of Accounts Officers and their collaborators earning fraudulently way above what should be their entitlements. Also, of the ₦1.4billion pension wage bill, 80 percent of it goes to only 8,000 of the 23,000 pensioners.
And the money is paid without recourse to basic data such as last grade level, last pay package, and date of retirement which ordinarily should form the basis for the computation of any worker’s pension. That precisely is what accounted for the delayed pension payment and the resultant face-off with beneficiaries of pension fraud in the state and payroll fraudsters in the state.
As a responsible government, Governor Hope Uzodinma has to sanitise his administration and cleanse the scheme of this mind-blogging payroll fraudsters and save the state from the hands of a few accounts officers and their collaborators who were milking the common patrimony of millions of naira every month”.
This includes singling out the fraudulent racket and publicly persecuting them to serve as an open warning and detriment to future connivers.
This would help strengthen his public image and show that he is really on the side of the masses, fighting for their entitlements and and their due remunerations.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
