Retired Primary school teachers in Akwa Ibom State have again made a very passionate appeal to the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, over the accumulated pension and gratuity arrears spanning over 12 years.
In a SAVE OUR SOULS (SOS) letter addressed to the governor and endorsed by Rev. Dr Felix I. Cookey, Chairman, and Hon Emmanuel S. Udoak, Secretary, and made available to journalists, the group lamented untold difficulties faced by its members over the unpaid entitlements.
The letter read, “Your Excellency, 2015 Retired teachers have been owed 10 months for 10 years now. These individuals retired in July 2015 and were paid from May 2016 onwards. These affected all teachers who retired that year, across the 31 local government areas.
“Others in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 are owed amounts ranging from 3 months to 5 months. The 2015 retired Primary School Teachers are the only set of retirees in SUBEB and in Akwa Ibom State to be owed 10 months of unpaid pension from the immediate past administration to the present administration, despite our repeated appeals.”
The group further averred, “Your Excellency, we look up to your intervention to save the remaining souls of these people and the next of kin of the late ones in the face of this harsh economic situation. Equally too, it is only SUBEB retirees that the government refuses to pay arrears of pension to in the whole state.
Related: A’Ibom: Retired Primary School Teachers Plan Mass Protests Over Unpaid Gratuities, Pensions, Ors.
“In all these, verifications and documentations were duly done by the Accountant-General’s Office through the sub-treasury in each Local Government Area. And the same was submitted to SUBEB both in hard and soft copies. Now the pension unit of SUBEB is capitalising unduly on these vulnerable people with undue and unrealistic demands.”
They lamented that while all other retirees in the state are dancing, clapping and drumming around, the Retired Primary School Teachers are crying, languishing in pain and receiving embarrassment, and some are dying in sickness, which could be prevented if they were to have money.
The statement further revealed, “Some of us have died, some are seriously sick, some have been evicted from houses due to inability to pay rent, and some children have dropped out of school. We therefore pray the Government to pay the unpaid pension on or before 14th October, 2025.”
The retired primary school teachers vowed to storm the streets of Uyo on demonstration if the money is not paid by the above-stated date, stressing, “The affected retirees will have no option but to embark on mass protests on the streets of Uyo for our governor to see the aged men and women who had toiled for this state for 35 good years but are now suffering over ten years of undeserved neglect and marginalisation on pension arrears.”
The group also used the opportunity to express gratitude to the Governor for his rare show of love and commitment in the regular payment of pension, the payment of gratuity up to 2013, now, the payment of the 2013 leave grant and the refund of the 7.5% pension contribution.
They recalled their candid efforts and determination to ensure the success of the current administration through massive support for the administration, adding, “We are ardent supporters of the Governor and very loyal to the ARISE administration. On the 18th June 2025, we declared full partnership with our governor to APC and registered our membership in the party in our respective units to ensure full backing to the Governor”.
