• Outstanding Debt To Retirees Hits ₦48bn
• Mbah promises monthly payments until backlog is cleared
By Tony Edike
The Accountant-General of Enugu State, Mr Tony Okenwa, says the state government has commenced a fresh drive to clear decades of unpaid retirement benefits, with Governor Peter Mbah approving an initial ₦10 billion f or the exercise.
The Enugu State Government has disclosed that its outstanding gratuity liabilities have risen to approximately ₦48 billion, following the accumulation of unpaid retirement benefits inherited from previous administrations and obligations incurred under the present government.
The Accountant-General of the state, Mr Tony Okenwa, made this known while explaining the ongoing payment of gratuities to retired civil servants, describing the intervention by Governor Peter Mbah as unprecedented in the history of the state’s public service.
Okenwa disclosed that the Mbah administration inherited about ₦32 billion in unpaid gratuity obligations covering the period between 2010 and 2023 when it assumed office in June 2023.
He explained that the liabilities had continued to increase due to the growing number of civil servants retiring from service, bringing the total outstanding obligations to approximately ₦48 billion.
According to him, the backlog also includes related pension benefits payable to the next of kin or beneficiaries of workers who die in active service. Such beneficiaries are entitled to five years’ pension in addition to the applicable gratuity, subject to the necessary verification and documentation.
The Accountant-General said Governor Mbah had, from the beginning of his administration, demonstrated a strong commitment to addressing the plight of retired workers who spent several decades in public service without receiving their retirement benefits.
He recalled that during discussions on the backlog, the governor repeatedly questioned the situation where workers retired after many years of service but were unable to access their gratuities.
“Whenever I went to him, he would ask: ‘Do you mean that people retire and then don’t go home with their gratuity?’
“He could not understand how somebody would work for many years, retire and still not receive what he had earned,” Okenwa said.
He explained that although he initially proposed a monthly payment arrangement, the governor insisted that the government should explore ways of raising sufficient funds to clear the accumulated obligations rather than allow retirees to continue waiting indefinitely.
The Accountant-General, however, noted that the government’s financial commitments initially made it difficult to generate enough savings to address the entire backlog.
He said the administration consequently commenced payment of gratuities for workers who retired under its tenure in January 2025, with their entitlements processed and paid directly into their bank accounts.
The exercise continued until financial constraints made it difficult to sustain the payments.
Okenwa disclosed that Governor Mbah subsequently directed the establishment of a structured payment arrangement that would accommodate different categories of retirees and ensure that no group was left behind.
Following a meeting convened by the governor, a committee chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Chidiebere Onyia, was constituted to oversee the exercise.
The Commissioner for Finance serves as secretary of the committee, while the Accountant-General and the Principal Secretary to the Government, Ken Chukwuegbo, are members.
He said the governor approved an initial release of ₦10 billion to commence the payment of the outstanding obligations.
Under the arrangement, ₦8 billion was allocated to legacy gratuity debts inherited from previous administrations, while ₦1 billion each was earmarked for obligations incurred between June 2023 and January 2025 and those covering June 2025 to September 2026.
1,813 retirees receive nearly ₦3.12bn in first two batches
Giving a breakdown of the payments, Okenwa disclosed that the government initially deployed ₦5 billion, with payments released in phases to accommodate possible complaints, corrections and verification issues.
He said 1,030 retirees received a total of ₦1.9197 billion on the first day of payment, while another 783 beneficiaries received approximately ₦1.199 billion in the second batch.
The two batches therefore accounted for 1,813 retirees and approximately ₦3.12 billion.
The Accountant-General explained that the government deliberately adopted a phased payment approach because some retirees had provided dormant bank accounts or incorrect account details, while others needed to update their records before their entitlements could be released.
He said some beneficiaries had accumulated records dating back many years, making it necessary to carry out additional checks to ensure that payments reached the rightful individuals.
Okenwa also disclosed that the government had commenced payments to retirees whose entitlements fell within the June to September 2026 category.
According to him, 80 retirees whose records had been verified under the June and July 2025 period received more than ₦482 million.
He added that another batch of over 400 retirees had been prepared for payment but was undergoing final verification to ensure that all details were accurate.
He stressed that the payments represented the full entitlements of the beneficiaries and were not partial payments or deductions from the amounts owed to them.
Government removes previously paid retirees from outstanding list
On the verification process, Okenwa explained that beneficiaries under the legacy category had undergone verification exercises in previous years, and their details were already available in the government’s database.
He said the records were retrieved, updated and subjected to a filtering process to establish the actual number of retirees still awaiting payment.
According to him, the filtering became necessary because some retirees had previously received assistance from the governor after personally approaching him with urgent financial needs, including medical expenses, children’s education and other family challenges.
Such beneficiaries were removed from the outstanding payment list to avoid double payment and establish the government’s actual outstanding liability.
He further explained that beneficiaries under the related pensions category would be paid through their estates or next of kin, in line with the available records.
However, he said such beneficiaries must obtain letters of administration from the Ministry of Justice to authenticate their claims and establish their legal entitlement before payment.
This, he noted, was necessary to prevent errors, fraudulent claims and possible disputes or litigation in the future.
12,717 legacy beneficiaries yet to be fully settled
The Accountant-General disclosed that government records showed approximately 12,717 outstanding beneficiaries under the legacy gratuity category.
He said that, considering the first two batches of 1,813 retirees and the additional 80 beneficiaries paid under another category, approximately 2,000 retirees had so far been reached through the initial deployment of ₦5 billion.
He described the development as a significant intervention, expressing optimism that the next deployment of another ₦5 billion would substantially increase the number of beneficiaries paid.
Okenwa, however, noted that the exact proportion of beneficiaries settled would be established through a reconciliation of the verified records and outstanding financial obligations.
He assured retirees that the government was determined to ensure that every eligible beneficiary received what was due to them, irrespective of when they retired.
Retirees initially feared another broken promise
Speaking on the reactions from beneficiaries, Okenwa said the ongoing payments had generated enormous excitement among retirees, many of whom had almost given up hope of ever receiving their gratuities.
He disclosed that some retirees initially refused to submit their bank details when contacted by the Pension Director because they suspected the exercise could be another scam, having heard similar promises from previous administrations without receiving payment.
However, he said their attitude changed when bank alerts began confirming the actual payment of their entitlements.
According to him, some beneficiaries initially mistook the credits for their regular monthly pensions before discovering that the money was their long-awaited gratuity.
He narrated the experience of a beneficiary who visited his office to express appreciation after receiving his payment alert, bringing palm oil from his village as a personal gesture of gratitude.
Okenwa said the retiree explained that he had never met him before but decided to visit because he wanted to appreciate those responsible for making the payment possible after many years of waiting.
He described the gesture as evidence of the emotional and economic significance of the intervention.
The Accountant-General said the benefits extended beyond the individual retirees, noting that the payments would help families settle outstanding obligations, pay school fees, provide shelter and attend to other needs that had been neglected for years.
He added that even retirees who had yet to receive their payments were encouraged by seeing their colleagues receive theirs, restoring confidence that their own entitlements would eventually be paid.
Mbah promises monthly payments until backlog is cleared
On the timeline for clearing the outstanding gratuities, Okenwa said the governor had indicated that payments would continue every month until the accumulated obligations were settled, subject to the continued release of funds.
He expressed confidence that the exercise would be completed, adding that the government would conduct a final reconciliation to determine whether all eligible beneficiaries had been paid or if any outstanding cases remained.
He also revealed that the government was extending its verification and payment efforts to unresolved retirement benefits dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s, including cases that had remained unpaid since the military era.
According to him, some retirees in those years were issued cheques but failed to collect them because they were unaware that the payments were ready, while others could not cash them before the cheques became stale.
He lamented that successive administrations did not consistently sustain the payment process, leaving several legitimate retirement entitlements unresolved for decades.
Okenwa said the present administration was committed to addressing such cases and ensuring that all verified beneficiaries received their entitlements.
He described the ongoing exercise as one of the most significant policy interventions he had witnessed in his 35 years in the civil service, stressing that its impact was directly reflected in the lives of retirees and their families.
“I have never witnessed this kind of policy intervention with such a direct impact on people’s lives,” he said.
He reiterated that the government’s objective was to ensure that no eligible retiree was abandoned, regardless of how long the individual had waited for the payment of their gratuity.
