Hope Raises as Enugu Approves N32,000 Minimum Pension for LG Retirees

Hope has risen among pensioners in Enugu State following the approval of a new minimum pension of N32,000 for local government retirees by the state government.

The government also approved the enrolment of all local government pensioners in the state’s free health insurance scheme, with the programme scheduled for launch on August 20, 2026.

The Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Local Government Staff Pensions Board, Dr. Eric Oluedo, disclosed this while appealing to pensioners to remain patient, saying administrative processes for implementing the new pension were being concluded.

Oluedo said Governor Peter Mbah had already approved the new minimum pension and expressed confidence that payments would commence once the necessary administrative procedures were completed.

He also disclosed that the governor had approved the enrolment of all local government pensioners in the Free Health Insurance Scheme of the Enugu State Agency for Universal Health Coverage.

According to him, the scheme, which will be launched on August 20, will provide pensioners with free access to healthcare services under the Enugu State Universal Health Coverage Scheme.

He urged pensioners who had yet to submit their current personal data for the programme to do so immediately through their respective Local Government Staff Pensions Desk Officers.

Oluedo said the administration had significantly improved pension administration in the state, particularly by ensuring regular payment of monthly pensions since July 2024.

He noted that the establishment of pension desk officers across the state’s 17 local government areas had also reduced the difficulties retirees faced in accessing pension-related services.

“Before this administration, pensioners did not receive their pensions regularly. Today, pensions are paid as and when due, even before the regular staff receive their salaries,” he said.

Oluedo further expressed optimism that the administration would soon commence payment of outstanding gratuities, pension arrears and the newly approved N32,000 minimum pension.

He said the government was committed to clearing inherited pension liabilities rather than transferring them to future administrations.

The development comes days after the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Enugu State Council, appealed to Governor Mbah to implement the pension review linked to the new national minimum wage.

The union had said the review would raise the minimum pension to N32,000 and help cushion the impact of rising living costs on retirees.

The NUP lamented that some pensioners still receive as little as N447 monthly, insisting that no retiree should earn below the approved minimum pension.

While commending the governor for restoring regular pension payments and clearing long-standing arrears, the State Chairman of the NUP, Ikechukwu Ekere, identified the non-payment of gratuities as the biggest challenge facing retirees in the state.

Ekere said local government and primary school pensioners who were previously owed as much as 27 months in pension arrears had received their pensions regularly since July 2024.

He added that pensioners in state parastatals had also enjoyed uninterrupted monthly pension payments since January 2025.

However, he said gratuity payments remained outstanding, noting that state retirees had not received gratuities since 2010, while local government and primary school retirees had been awaiting their gratuities since 2006.