The Abia State Government has expressed its desire to commence a Pension Contributory Scheme for civil servants.

The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, made this known on Tuesday during a press briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council Meeting at the Government House, Umuahia.

He said, “The state government has concluded plans to introduce a contributory pension scheme for Abia civil Servants. The plans for establishing the scheme have gone very far and very soon we would start the cutover to a contributory pension scheme.”

Mr Kanu expressed the readiness of the state government to introduce measures that would make the payment of pension seamless and give pensioners a sense of belonging.

He said that the government had given a directive that pensioners should be paid on the 28th of every month like the civil servants in the state.

Mr Kanu added that the government had directed that henceforth pensioners would be paid their monthly pension in full, as against half of the amount which used to be the case in the past.

He said that the government recently paid pensioners their pension arrears, noting that the government was aware that some pensioners were not captured in the payment.

Mr Kanu said that the Ministry of Finance had set up a help desk to address issues arising from the pension arrears payment such as persons whose names were skipped, among others.

According to him, the idea is to ensure that the process is smooth and successful.

Mr Kanu also said that the government approved the reconstruction of the 3.5-Kilometer Ekeakpara road stretching from Osisioma Junction to Ekeakpara Market.

He said that the road would be rehabilitated with a concrete drainage system to enhance the aesthetics and increase its lifespan.

Mr Kanu disclosed that the plans and efforts were in top gear in preparation for the upcoming Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas Medical Mission in the state.

He said that there had been a massive registration by prospective patients seeking to get medical attention during the exercise.

“The Ministry of Health and ANPA joined forces to have about 200 patients undergo surgery but the number has now increased to about 350 patients because of the massive interest people have shown. The number of registered patients shows that it is going to be a hectic period for those involved. This means that they will be carrying out surgeries on about 25 patients per day; that’s very huge by any stretch of imagination,” Mr Kanu said.

(NAN)