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After capturing over 24,000 of the over 48,000 retirees in both the state and local government, the Imo State Government disclosed that it has uncovered 8,549 ghost retirees.
It also uncovered a monthly savings of N428m, which would have ended up in the pockets of fraudsters.
Consequently, the state now has a total wage bill of N1.2b, having reduced it from the initial N1.499b on May 29, 2019, when Ihedioha assumed office.
Ihedioha, disclosed these in his statewide broadcast in Owerri on the commencement of pensions paid to the 24,431 verified retirees.
But former Governor Rochas Okorocha faulted Ihedioha, accusing him of being economical with the truth and dashing the hopes of the retirees after waiting patiently for three months biometric verification.
In a statement issued by Okorocha’s Special Adviser on Media, Sam Onwuemeodo, he said Ihedioha’s broadcast could only say unexpected things.
He only ended up dashing the hopes of pensioners and also gave a wrong analysis of what the pension situation has really been in the state.
But Ihedioha, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Chibuike Onyeukwu, insisted that most of the retirees and Imo people were happy with the commencement of the payment with two months arrears.
