By STEPHEN ADELEYE

The Kogi Government on Sunday gave explanation on the delay in the payment of pensions for the state’s pensioners owed their March entitlement.

The state Commissioner for Finance and Budget Planning, Asiwaju Idris, who spoke to journalists in Lokoja, said the widely circulated rumour that Gov. Yahaya Bello had used the March Pension to conduct his presidential declaration event recently in Abuja was untrue.

The commissioner said on the contrary, there was delay in the payment of March pension due to banking logistics.

Idris said that government did not owe pensioners and attributed the difficulty in the March payments to network failure.

“The delay in payment of March pensions was due to logistics problems of transferring the money from Access Bank to UBA,” he stressed.

He, however, urged pensioners in the state to exercise patient and avoid anxiety, saying the banks were making efforts to resolve the problems and effect their payments within the nearest possible time.

He noted the state government under the leadership of Bello prioritized salaries of workers and pensioners, and would do everything to ensure the prompt payment of such, as the state government is known for. (NAN)