Ebonyi State Chairman of the Association of Local Government Employees of Nigeria (ALGON), Prince Chinedu Uburu, at the weekend said that the 13 local government areas of the state need over N10 billion to pay the gratuities of local government retired workers.

Uburu, who is also the Chairman of Ebonyi LGA, made the revelation during a chat with some selected journalists in Abakaliki. He noted that they are not owing pensions to the retirees.

For them to pay the gratuities, Uburu noted that three months’ allocations would have to be used, thereby shutting down the local government system for three months.

He pleaded with the retirees to have patience, stating that payment will begin very soon, but it will be in batches.

He thanked Governor Francis Nwifuru’s administration for providing an enabling environment, noting that such an environment has brought down insecurity in the state, thereby paving the way for rapid infrastructure and economic development, especially in the area of security.

“We hear people say that Ebonyi is the safest state in the South East. We give kudos to the Governor because he has always provided us with all the logistics. He is doing a lot in the security architecture of Ebonyi State. He is someone that likes security. He is someone that prioritizes everything that has to do with security,” Uburu said.

In another development, the Chairman of Ivo Local Government Area, Mr. Aja Emmanuel, and his counterpart from Ohaukwu LGA, Chief Odono Ikechukwu, have commended Governor Nwifuru for providing an enabling environment for council chairmen in the state to operate optimally, citing security as his major achievement.

In a separate chat with journalists, the duo noted that the state under Governor Nwifuru remains the only state in Southeast that is free from incidents of kidnapping, due to the security architecture put in place by the state government.

According to them, the governor has massively empowered the youths of the state, appointed many into governance, built palaces for traditional rulers, sponsored Ebonyi students on overseas scholarships, and initiated the construction of 2 kilometers of road in all the autonomous communities of Ebonyi State.

Speaking, Ikechukwu Odono of Ohaukwu LGA said that the two years of Nwifuru’s administration have recorded giant strides in the area of security and infrastructural rebirth, saying that kidnapping and other crimes have reduced drastically in the state.

He further stated that Ebonyi State is one of the states in Nigeria that can boast of security, noting that one can invest in the state, relax, and walk around freely both day and night.

“The Governor has done very well within these two years. He has built palaces for the royal fathers in Ebonyi State, constructed two-kilometer roads, sponsored over 200 students for overseas scholarships, and resolved the communal crisis between Effium and Ezza Effium by creating five autonomous communities,” he said.

Moreover, the Chairman of Ivo LGA stated that the issue of insecurity in his council area is a thing of the past. He said it is no longer the time when one hears of frequent crises.

“Ivo in the past was known for communal crises, but we have made sure there is no crisis in the entire local government area. There is no insecurity again. First of all, I brought all the stakeholders together, and we worked together for peace in Ivo,” he said.