In order to pay off a backlog of pension arrears, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori requested permission from the Delta State House of Assembly to use an N40 billion credit facility.
Our correspondent has learned that the approval was given by the House on Tuesday during its first plenary session.
The governor’s letter of request was read aloud on the House floor by the Speaker, Emomotimi Guwor.
The letter claims that Oborevwori informed the House that his administration was working with the state association of local governments of Nigeria to clear up the backlog of accumulated pensions owed to retired primary school teachers and local government employees.
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The request for a loan, according to the letter, would help senior citizens in the state who worked for local governments and then retired from those positions.
The governor further stated that Zenith Bank Plc had provided the aforementioned facility to the 25 local government councils on a prorated basis in accordance with each council’s individual debt to pensioners, for which the bank had issued offer letters to the councils.
The majority leader of the house and representative for Aniocha North Constituency, Emeka Nwaobi, made the motion for approval. Perkins Umukoro, who represents Sapele Constituency, seconded Emeka Nwaobi’s motion.
It should be remembered that the 7th Assembly approved a N71 billion loan for the then-outgoing administration three days before the term of the immediately preceding governor, Ifeanyi Okowa.
