The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to provide palliative for pensioners through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) and the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
NUP said the government agencies are in a better position to distribute palliative to pensioners because they have accurate data and details of all pensioners in the country.
National President of NUP, Elder Godwin Abumisi, made the appeal at a conference to commemorate 2023 Pensioners’ Day, celebrated yearly on October 5.
In his address, Abumisi appealed to President Tinubu to provide adequate palliative to pensioners, saying the retirees made huge contributions and sacrifices to get Nigeria where it is today, therefore, deserves better treatment.
He said, “We wish to tell the Federal Government to provide palliatives for pensioners through the use of government agencies that handle pension payments with accurate database records containing the account details of all pensioners for easy access and delivery.
“These agencies/departments include PTAD, PenCom for federal pensioners, including federal parastatals. Ditto state pension boards for state pensioners and local government pension boards for local government pensioners. We consider the above channels as effective and seamless means of getting across to our members with any form of palliative.”
Abumisi also noted that “the removal of fuel subsidy and the naira redesign policy has further pauperised the already choked pensioners who are facing acute poverty, neglect, deprivations, hopelessness and, in most cases, premature death due to inability to afford drugs to treat ailments associated with old age.
“Pensioners are the most vulnerable persons in Nigeria and with their peculiar challenges are always left out in the distribution of material and non-material palliative packages.
“It is on this premise that we wish to draw the attention of the Federal Government via the office of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Betta Edu, who is passionately committed to fighting the course of the poor vulnerable Nigerians, to consider the inclusion of pensioners in the ongoing distribution of palliative packages, both within and outside the shores of the Federal Capital Territory, towards cushioning the biting effect of the economic hardship unleashed on Nigerians as a result of the fuel subsidy removal.”
The pensioners union also highlighted some lingering challenges facing its members across boards, which it says are begging for solutions.
It said the issues include non-harmonisation of pension, omission of 2015 pension review, non-payment of arrears of pension increment of 15 percent, 33 percent and the consequential adjustment of 2007, 2010 and 2019, respectively to pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), non-release of the timely monthly accrued rights to the contributory pensioners, and payment of the outstanding balance of N33 billion to Nigeria Airways workers.
The union said, “While we commend the past administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari for the approval and payment of the various pension reviews to the deserving pensioners, regrettably, the pension review of 2015 has suffered series of setback as it has not been paid despite all efforts invested in the struggle for its actualisation.
“We, therefore, humbly appeal to the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu to come to our aid by putting in place necessary government instruments towards making funds available for the payment of this omitted pension review of 2015 which would serve as another form of palliatives to put smile on the faces of the benefitting pensioners across the country.
“Pension increments and reviews had been paid to pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBN) to the exclusion of the CPS pensioners under PenCom. All efforts by the union and of course PenCom to actualise these pending payments had not yielded any positive result. We are therefore using this occasion of Pensioners’ Day to reach out to the new administration to see to the implementation and payment of the above pension reviews to put a stop to the deprivations and frustrations of pensioners in this category.
“Another peculiar problem bedevilling the contributory pensioners is the non-payment of their accrued rights which has brought upon them untold hardship. The non-release of the funds for the settlement of the accrued rights is causing a lot of delay in the payment of monthly pension to this category of pensioners who cannot access their monthly payment and other entitlements without the payment of the accrued rights. The total accumulated accrued rights as of today stands at about N140 billion. We hereby call on the Federal Government for its timely intervention to save the souls of this category of pensioners from untimely death.
“Recalling that the Federal Government, in its wisdom, decided to liquidate the Nigeria Airways in 2014 of which both the workers and the existing pensioners were paid off. The pay-off was calculated and put at N78 billion being the total liability. Out of the N78 billion, the sum of N45 billion was released and paid by the last administration, leaving the balance of N33 billion unsettled.”
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