The Benue State Government has been directed to pay two of its retirees, Mr. Cletus Iorember and Mrs. Donna Akya the sum of N26.3 million as their gratuity and pension arrears.
The ruling given by the National Industrial Court (NIC) followed a case of unlawful possession of their retirement benefits by the government, filed by the two defendants.
The two claimants, who had joined the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of the State and the State Pension Commission as co-defendants in the case sought a declaration that the withholding of their pensions and gratuities by the defendants was unconstitutional and unlawful.
They also prayed for an order of the court directing the defendants forthwith to pay them the sum of N 26.5 million being the arrears of their gratuity and pension.
The money as ordered by the court to be paid to the claimants is the sum of N12.2 million and N14.1 million respectively, being the balance of their unpaid gratuity and pension arrears.
The court in addition directed that N1 million each be paid to the retirees by Feb. 28 and the subsequent payment shall be in installments of N500,000 monthly until the liquidation of the judgment debt.
Although the court struck out the prayer of the defendants who urged the court to dismiss the claim for lack of proof, the court ruled that the provisions of the Benue State Pension Reform Law, 2019 hold that the claimants have a right to be paid their gratuity and also pensions, after they retire.
