The Federal Government has assured Nigerian pensioners of its commitment to making adequate budgetary provisions for the payment of prompt pensions and benefits of retired federal workers in the country.
Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, who disclosed this while addressing the 10th quadrennial delegates’ conference of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners in Kaduna also said that about N231.8 billion was being proposed in the 2017 budget for the settlement of various pension-related claims.
According to him, the money will be used for the settlement of outstanding pension benefits owed to about 19,830 retirees and deceased families, payment of pension increase for about 79,961 pensioners, 1 per cent monthly wage bill for the funding of the Pension Protection Fund, shortfall of the retirement benefits for retired Heads of Service of the federation and federal permanent secretaries, including 16 permanent secretaries that are due for retirement in 2017, and adequate payment of monthly 5 per cent of total wage bill into the Retirement Bond Benefits Redemption Fund account.
He said working closely with the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office has ensured the release of 18,823,421,342.00 plus an additional N54 billion into the Retirement Bond Benefit Redemption Fund.
He assured that President Muhammadu Buhari, being a pensioner himself, was concerned about the plight of pensioners in Nigeria and has set up a committee headed by the Minister of Finance to proffer a sustainable solution to the plight of Nigerians pensioned in the face of excruciating fiscal constraints.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Pension, Hon. Hassan Adamu Shekarau, also said the commitment of the House was to make the life of Nigerian pensioners better, adding that the House of Representatives would never do anything that would be detrimental to the Nigerian workers and pensioners.