An online news blog, Igbo Times Magazine, has published a report that Theodore Ahamefule Orji, a former governor of Abia State, has threatened to cause unrest in the state if his pension as a former governor is stopped by the incumbent administration led by Alex Otti.
The report was also shared on the Facebook page of the blog alongside the link to the report on its website as seen here.
The post read:
Just In: If My Pension Is Stopped, There Will Be a Blood Bath In Abia State, I Will Make Otti’s Government Unbearable For Him – TA Orji Reportedly Vows
TA Orji intends to make the government of his successor, Dr. Alex Otti, unbearable if his pension is halted.
The post is circulating following the public announcement that the Abia state governor, Alex Otti, has signed a law stopping the state’s ex-governors and deputy governors’ pensions, which was recently passed by the state House of Assembly.
The bill titled “H.A.B 11, The Abia State Governor’s and Deputy Governor’s Pensions Law Repeal Bill 2024,” was sponsored by the Majority Leader and member for Arochukwu State Constituency, Mr Okoro Uchenna Kalu.
CLAIM
T.A. Orji threatens Abia state government if his pension as an ex-governor is stopped.
THE FINDINGS
Checks by our researcher revealed that the claim is FALSE.
Following Otti’s signing of the Abia State of Nigeria Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Repeal Law of 2024, Senator T.A. Orji has reacted to the issue while speaking with some sections of the Nigerian media, including Punch and Vanguard newspapers as reported here and here.
In his reaction, he did not threatened to make Abia state ungovernable should the ex-governors pensions be stopped.
“Since T. A Orji left office as Governor, he has not received any penny as pension. He transited from Governor to Senate and he made it a point of morality that he will not, and he didn’t ask for any pension or question anybody about it because he is not interested in it.
“The House of Assembly has the prerogative to periodically review the laws of the state. It’s in their powers to do so but nobody should link Senator Orji with the said pension law because nobody has paid him any pension after leaving office as Governor.
“Senator Orji has not received any pension as former Governor, and as a statesman he has not asked for any. He didn’t receive any pension from Okezie Ikpeazu and he didn’t pay anybody too,” Orji’s former Chief Liaison Officer, Ifeanyi Umere, told Vanguard newspaper.
He vehemently denied receiving any dime from the Abia State Government as a pension since his exit as the state governor in 2015.
THE VERDICT
The claim that T.A. Orji threatened Abia state government if his pension as an ex-governor is stopped is FALSE; nowhere in his reaction to the repealed law did he made such threat.
Amala is a tactical Fact-Checker, who is passionate about using Fact-checking to curb the spread of Misinformation and Disinformation which has become prevalent in the media space. She can be reached on X at muonweblessing and LinkedIn on Amala Blessing Muonwe
