Ngige tackles Peter Obi over claim of inheriting N35bn Anambra pension arrears- Senator Chris Ngige has disagreed with his successor in Anambra, Peter Obi, over claim of inheriting N35 billion pension arrears - Obi had reportedly claimed his government inherited N35 billion pension arrears from his predecessor - Ngige, however, faulted the claim, saying he only left arrears of N7 billion PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Senator Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment, has tackled a former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, over the latter's claim of inheriting N35 billion arrears of pension and gratuity. Ngige, who is also a former Anambra governor, said Obi's claim is false, ThisDay reports. Legit.ng gathers that the labour minister accused his successor of falsifying the history of the state all in an attempt to discredit him. Ngige said regular payment of salaries as and when due commenced with his administration in 2003, adding that he also authorised the payment of two months salary arrears. Read also Kogi guber: Huge number of APC aspirants is due to my efforts, says Gov Bello He added that his administration also invited the Nigeria Union of Pensioners and an agreement in November 2003 for a new 143% rise in pension package, payable retroactively June 2003. "Payment was affected in December that year with a seven-month new package arrears," the former governor said. "The statement stated that when Obi assumed office in 2006 and started his payment of old pensions arrears in 2008, the quantum of arrears was only about N7billion. “We do not therefore understand why he is claiming to have paid N35billion except he is smartly annexing all the payments made under Ngige who also cleared N42 billion state salary and gratuity arrears as well as N15 billion salary and gratuities arrears at the local governments. “It is high time this effortless falsification of Anambra history was checked . Ngige left no debt for Obi except the tiny arrears of old rates pension, that were not up to N4billion. The reason was that most of the affected workers returned from Enugu, and reconciliation ongoing with the Enugu State Government by the time Ngige exited office," he added. Read also Presidential election: Mixed reactions trail Atiku's decision to challenge result in court PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigeria’s #1 news app Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the pensioners in Kaduna state were in jubilation mood over the unexpected increase in their monthly benefits by Governor Nasir El-Rufai. The good news was announced on Thursday, January 30, in a statement issued by the governor's spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, and made available to the newsmen. He said the governor shocked pensioners in the state as he increased their benefits from N3,000 to N30,000, saying that what most pensioners take home was unacceptable. Pensioner: Buhari has not paid me since he came into power | - on Legit TV Source: Legit.ng - Senator Chris Ngige has disagreed with his successor in Anambra, Peter Obi, over claim of inheriting N35 billion pension arrears - Obi had reportedly claimed his government inherited N35 billion pension arrears from his predecessor - Ngige, however, faulted the claim, saying he only left arrears of N7 billion PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Legit.ng PAY ATTENTION: Legit.ng