By Muhammad Ibrahim, Sokoto
The Sokoto State Concerned Pensioners Forum has said they are solidly in the support of the government for initiation the ongoing verification exercise for payment which commenced on the 27th of June 2024.
“We are pretty sure it was aimed at mitigating most of the teething problems of the pensioners under the verification exercise.
“Although we are not involved in the planning process of the exercise but assumed that it was aimed at the following good intentions of the government to improve retirees’ socioeconomic well-being”.
The statement by the Forum’s secretary, Muhammad Garba, said it was aimed to discover those who died but not reported to the pension boards to be replaced by the alive retirees yet to be enrolled in the monthly pension payment.
The verification will also give insight into the cost implications of the new monthly pension if the 2024 new minimum wage is implemented because it is constitutional that each new minimum wage comes along with a new pension increase.
The Secretary further said they are appreciative and wholehearted to support the exercise in their way but appealing to the government to please consider that the verification exercise should please be decentralized, that is each local government be visited with easy cost of transportation on the part of the pensioners.
He added that the security risk involved in travelling to places like Goronyo, Sabon Birni, Isa, and Gudu to Sokoto for verification should be considered as well.
“We could recall in 2021 when such an exercise was conducted on a zonal basis some of those of Sabon Birnin and Isa LGAs on the way back from Wurno Zone were attacked by the bandits.