Enugu—The Joint Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service Matters, States and Local Government yesterday said it would  address pensions of the pre-civil war civil servants.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Aloysius Etok, said this during a visit on Governor Sullivan Chime.

He said the affected civil servants served the country for years that had qualified them for pensions and gratuities but had their careers terminated as a result of the Nigeria-Biafran civil war.

Etok assured the people that the committee would ensure that every corruption, embezzlement, misapproriation or diversion of funds as regards their pension matters would be exposed.

“Today marks a new dawn in our legislative actions for a permanent solution to the ugly, unacceptable, deplorable and repulsive condition and system of pension administration and payment in Nigeria which has brought untold hardship, bitterness and misery to our elder statesmen, our pensioners.’

“These pensioners are indeed true elder statesmen who had meritoriously put in all their years of youthful strength and intellect to the service of their fatherland.

“Necessary action will be taken by this committee to ensure that the pension matter as regards the Nigerian civil servants of the pre-civil war era is also addressed.

Responding, Governor Chime commended the Senate for appointing experienced senators to handle pension matters in the country.

Chime, represented by his deputy, Mr Sunday Onyebuchi, urged the committee to make laws that would reposition and reengineer the public service to ensure the sustenance of good governance in the country.

He attributed the non-payment of benefits after retirement to age falsification by some workers, adding that the committee should take steps to address the problem.

“Unless we reposition, re-engineer the public service to perform its duties, we will continue to have problems because the public service is the institution that implements the policies and programmes of government.

“I believe that if you are able to solve the problem of pension administration in our public service, you would have addressed so many other problems.”

Senators Helen Esuene, Babafemi Ojudu, Adamu Ibrahim, Abubakar Tutare, Mudasiru Hussain, Ayo Adeseun, Ibrahim Musa, Abdul Mumuni Hassan, Chris Nwankwo and Adegbenga Kaka were members of the committee.