RETIREES in Plateau State have accused the State Government of  being insensitive to their plight, and decried the neglect they are suffering after “working hard for the state”.

The retirees, numbering about 250, who gathered at the Plateau Pension Board to voice out their worries, claimed, they had not received anything as pension several years after they left service. Mr Gyang Davou, spokesman of the retirees, lamented that some of the retirees had spent between four and five years without receiving either their gratuities or pension.

“The state government has not shown much concern for us. This is my third year since retirement. Others left service five years ago, but every time we converge here, we are told to “exercise more patience”. Davou said feeding had become very difficult for the retirees, while the school fees of their wards had not been paid for years.

Another retiree, who gave his name simply as Mr Azi, accused the state government of “deliberately refusing” to pay the retirees their gratuities.

“We were hopeful that we would be paid last year, but the only gratuity paid to some of our members was in February. Since then, no one has been paid,” he said.

When contacted, Mr James Kumbin, Executive Chairman, Plateau Pension Board, said the delays in the payment of gratuities and placement of the retirees were not deliberate.

He said that the security challenges facing the state had affected the flow of funds.

“But I want to assure the retirees that as soon as funds are made available, these issues will be quickly addressed,” the executive chairman said.

“We spent more than N91 million for the payment of 5,600 pensioners each month. Currently, we have about 240 retirees waiting for the payment of their gratuities and placement on pension,” he explained. He called on the retirees to exercise more patience. He also advised them to be “more prayerful” for peace to return to Plateau to enable the state government to shore up its revenue generation profile to meet its obligations.

Kumbin declared that Governor Jonah Jang had the retirees at heart, stressing that everything was being done to ensure that they were paid promptly.

He said that those already placed, were already receiving their pensions regularly.