Rivers
RSG Resumes Pension Deductions, April
The Rivers State Government (RSG) will this month recommence monthly pension deductions from workers salary following suspension of deductions in December last year as a result of agitations by labour unions.
The Head of Service (HOS), Barrister Samuel Longjohn announced this at a meeting he held with members of the Rivers State Pension Board in his office in Port Harcourt. He said the decision was arrived after consultations with labour unions in the state, adding that already, circulars had been issued to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state.
Barrister Longjohn also advised staff who are yet to register with Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) assigned to their MDAs to do so as money deducted would be credited to accounts of only those who have been given codes of personal identification numbers (PIN), stressing that the scheme was compulsory for all public servants whose service period exceeds June, 2015. He further said that money deducted from those who have not registered would be held in suspense account pending their registration with PFAs assigned to their MDAs, explaining that the advantage of the new pension scheme was that retirees get their gratituity as and when due.
Barrister Longjohn urged members of the State Pensions Board to make concerted efforts in ensuring the smooth implementation of the scheme, and restated plans by his office to set up a One-stop- Shop for pension documentation to facilitate the processing of documents of retirees.
In her presentation, Chairperson of the Rivers State Pensions Board, Mrs Edna Alikor, said since the inauguration of the board in December, 2009, steps had been taken to ensure the smooth implementation of the scheme. She said PFAs had been chosen and assigned to various MDAs, adding that most public servants had exhibited apathy to the scheme by refusing to register with any of the PFAs.
The chairman said in view of the development, extensive sensitisation campaign had been carried out to enlighten public servants on the essence of the scheme.
She said, out of the 13,902 staff in the mainstream civil service that had registered for the scheme, less than 2,000 staff have received their PIN, pointing out that modalities were on ground to get the figure of those outside the core civil service, including the tertiary institutions, post primary schools Board and the Universal Basic Education Board, among others.
The Rivers State Judiciary has denied a media report claiming that Justice Frank Onyiri of the State High Court issued an injunction order restraining the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), from inaugurating the newly appointed members of the Rivers State Civil Service Commission (RSCSC).
In a statement issued by the Deputy Chief Registrar in charge of litigation at the High Court, Menenen Poromon (Esq), the state Judiciary disassociated itself from the report, describing it as malicious and fabricated.
The statement emphasized that the report was a falsehood and a misrepresentation of what transpeared in the court.
Poromon clarified that no such order was issued by Justice Onyiri or any other judge of the High Court of the state and urged the public to disregard the information, as it lacked any iota of truth.
The statement however advised the public to verify any information concerning the state Judiciary directly from the office of the Chief Registrar, High Court of the State, to avoid spreading of misinformation.