When Governor Sheriff Oborevwori ascended the reins of government in Delta State, he was met with a conundrum in the payment of local council pensions.
 
Due to a number of factors, retired workers of the teaching service, the 25 local councils, and the Local Government Education Authoritiries, were owed backlog of pensions spanning over a decade.
 
The bill was estimated at over N50b, and the retirees suffered great deprivation.
 
Though the payment of local council workers’ salaries and pensions is the responsibility of the councils, not the state government, Oborevwori understood and had a deep commitment to the primary responsibility of government, to ensure the  welfare and economic security of citizens.
 
In his view, no excuse was strong enough to owe, delay or deprive retirees of their entitlements after their working life.
 
Accordingly, and in line with the cardinal points of his MORE Agenda campaign, he decided that the logjam in the payment of local council pensioners must be resolved, not only immediately, but once and for all.
 
True to this declaration, he sat down with council chairmen and the leadership of the Bureau of Local Government Pensions, to find a lasting solution.
 
The first and major challenge was how to clear up the accumulated accrued rights to workers, which mounted from 2011.  It was agreed at the State Joint Account Committee for all the local councils to jointly obtain a loan of N40b. The state government signed the surety . This was complemented by a further release of N1.8b by the Joint Accounts Committee, to substantially clear the backlog.
 
It was, therefore, joy across the state when over 11,400 pensioners from several years back, up to  September 2024, were paid.
 
In December 2025, the JAC further released N1.5b to pay up additional 400 retirees, bringing the clearance of the backlog  up to retirees by April, 2025.
 
For many pensioners of the local councils and the Local Government Education Authorities, the resolution was a great relief.
 
But according to the Chairman of the Delta State Bureau of Local Government Pensions, Mr Benjamin Igo, beyond the provision of funds, part of the difficulties in retirees accessing their payments derives from improper enrolment into the Contributory Pensions Scheme, incomplete documentation, and conflicting records, amongst others.
 
To help pensioners in resolving these problems, the Bureau, supported by the governor and the Local Council Chairmen, embarked on a Sensitisation and Enlightenment Tour of the 25 local councils.
 
The objective was to get to the grassroots, to meet, receive and resolve the complaints and difficulties of the retirees, as well as educate serving workers on the proper procedures and processes of enrolment to the Contributory Pensions Scheme.
 
In the tour were officers of the Bureau of  Local Government Pensions, representatives of the National Pension Commission, and of several Pension Fund Administrators, who all converged to enlighten the people.

The outcome is that many retirees and workers got the opportunity to resolve their difficulties, and to understand the processes of the Contributory Pensions Scheme to enable easier and timely processing of their entitlements on their retirement.
 
With the conclusion of the sensitization programme, many retirees and the in-service workers got many of their difficulties and complaints resolved.
 
The Bureau took extra measure to produce a handbook on the process of the Contributory Pensions Scheme which it distributed through all the local councils and Local Education Authorities, for easy reference in the service of pensioners and workers.
 
For the administration of Oborevwori, the leadership of the Bureau of Local Government Pensions, and the council chairmen, the  commitment is to ensure that the backlog is cleared.