Pensioners from the Concerned Abia State Pensioners organized a city-wide celebration in Umuahia, the state capital, to celebrate the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) defeat in the governorship election.
They termed the PDP’s loss in the state’s gubernatorial and National Assembly elections as God’s particular way of punishing the umbrella party for supposedly causing grief to Abia’s retirees.
The retirees, who were dressed entirely in white during their celebration march through the streets of Umuahia, said Dr Alex Otti’s victory on March 18 was an answer to prayer from God.
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Holding placards with articles engraved on them, the retirees said that the outgoing government of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu treated them like slaves by owing them more than 30 months of pension.
This is despite the fact that they have accused the PDP-led governments of neglecting to pay them gratuities for more than 20 years, adding that many retirees have died of starvation, sickness, or distress, or have been forced to relocate to villages by the landlords to whom they owed.
Apart from that, the retirees said that the few months of pension they received were split in half, despite the state administration announcing on the radio that they were paid in full.
They labeled prior and current state finance commissioners as utter failures from 2015 to the present.
Some of the pensioners, including Chief Benson Uwaka, Mrs. Obiageri Ahuoma, and Elder James Igbokwe, stated God answered their prayers through the Labour Party’s victory.
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Clanging bells and dancing, the retirees marched from Bende road to the NUJ press centre/Abia tower junction and Isi gate junction before arriving at Okpara square.
They chanted Taa bu ubochi onu Hallelujah (Today is a joyful day, Hallelujah), PDP laa nke oma Labour Party nnoo (PDP goodbye, Labour Party welcome).
The pensioners expressed gratitude to Governor-elect Dr. Alex Otti for agreeing to pay their unpaid pensions, and they prayed to God to bless and protect the former banker.
“Before now, we used to protest and cry on the streets of Umuahia wearing black dress but today, you people can see that we are in white to confirm that we are happy that this administration that treated us like slaves is going away,” Elder Igbokwe told Newsmen.
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