The national president of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Comrade Godwin Abumisi has called on the federal government and the state governors to release bailout funds to settle all outstanding pensions accrued to pensioners across the country.
The NUP national president made the demand during the celebration of this year’s Pensioners Day at the weekend in Abuja.
He said the retirement benefits owed to pensioners by many states are running into trillions of naira.
Abumisi said that significant numbers of pensioners in the state and local governments across the country have died without enjoying the fruits of their labour as a result of non-payment of their monthly pensions for many years and total denial of gratuities.
“As the president of the union, this neglect gives me sleepless nights, especially when legitimate and legal rights are denied to these senior citizens. Let me call on Mr. President and the Governors Forum to put this matter as one of the priorities of the government to release bailout funds to the State Governments to settle all the outstanding pensions accrued to Pensioners across the country,” he stated.
According to him, pensioners have been denied the benefits of a review of their pension or increment every five years as provided in the 1999 constitution and other extant pension laws as enjoyed by their federal counterparts.
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Comrade Abumisi appealed to President Tinubu to come to their aid by putting in place necessary government instruments towards making funds available for the payment of the omitted pension review of 2015 which he said would serve as another form of palliatives to put a smile on the faces of the pensioners in the country.
According to him, the past administration under President Muhammadu Buhari approved the payment of the various pension reviews of 2015 but regrettably, he said the review was omitted and has suffered a series of setbacks as it has not been paid.
On the issue of non-payment of the outstanding balance of N33 billion to the retired Nigeria Airways workers, the national president of NUP recalled that the Federal Government in its wisdom decided to liquidate Nigeria Airways in 2004 of which both the workers and the existing pensioners were paid off by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
He puts the figure at N78bin, being the total liability.
Abumisi explained that of the N78bn, N45bn was released and paid by the last administration, leaving a balance of N33bn unsettled.
He urged the present administration in line with its ”Renewed Hope Agenda to direct the Presidential Initiative Continuous Audit (PICA), under the Federal Ministry of Finance with the responsibility of handling the payment to expedite action on the payment without further delay.
Abumisi also called on the Federal Government to order the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to find a way out of the non-implementation of arrears of pension increments of 15 per cent, 33 per cent and the consequential adjustment of 2007, 2010 and 2019 respectively to pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).