Retired Abia Teacher Cries Out as Pension Diverted to Unknown Account Since July 2024

A retired primary school teacher from Isialangwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, Mr. Ubochi Eze Nwokeoma, has raised an alarm that his monthly pension has been fraudulently diverted into an unknown bank account since July 2024 while government agencies have remained silent despite repeated complains.

Nwokeoma, who retired in 2011 after years of service at Ama-Ano Central School in Isialangwa South LGA, told SunFM 91.9 Aba in an interview that he has participated in multiple pension verification exercises, including the landmark biometric verification conducted by Governor Alex Otti’s administration in 2023, and had his status confirmed each time.

Yet his pension payments abruptly stopped in July 2024.

“I have all my verification certificates. I was verified. My name was on the payroll. Then suddenly the money stopped coming, When I investigated further, I discovered that my pension is still being paid but into a different account number that is not mine.” Mr Nwokeoma said

Nwokeoma said the most alarming part of his ordeal was the discovery that his pension funds were not simply withheld they were being actively collected by an unknown individual using a fraudulently substituted account number, an apparent case of payroll fraud enabled from within the system.

The retiree said he has since reported the matter to the Abia State Pension Board, the Office of the Head of Service, the Poverty Recovery Unit, and the Office of the Accountant General all to no avail.

“Nobody has helped me. Nobody has acted. I have spent so much of my own money on transportation going Umuahia from office to office. I cannot continue to fund this myself,” he said.

Nwokeoma’s sub-treasury for pension disbursement is domiciled under Osisioma Ngwa LGA, when he was receiving his pension before the malicious fraud. He is now calling on Governor Alex Otti, the state Commissioner for Finance, and relevant government agencies to order an immediate investigation into the matter and ensure the full recovery of all pension arrears siphoned from his account since July 2024.

National Concord recalls that the Abia State Government, in the early months of the Otti’s administration in 2023, launched a comprehensive verification exercise covering all state and local government pensioners, parastatals staff, and employees of state-owned tertiary institutions. The state Head of Service, Lady Joy Maduka, had described the exercise as part of a broader initiative to build a unified human resource and payroll database aimed at eliminating ghost workers and payroll fraud.

That exercise was the very one Nwokeoma participated in and was cleared through.

Despite this, his case raises serious questions about the integrity of the payroll system and whether internal actors may have exploited administrative gaps to redirect pension funds belonging to verified retirees.

Meanwhile, as of March 2026, Abia pensioners continue to grapple with unresolved arrears and systemic payment failures. The “Concerned Abia Pensioners” group has separately called on Governor Otti to address outstanding pension liabilities, signaling that Nwokeoma’s case may not be isolated.