Pensioners in Rivers State have decried the non-payment of their almost 40 months’arrears of pensions and gratuities.
They have, therefore, urged Governor Nyesom Wike to clear them before he quits office.
The Chairman of Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Lucky Ati, stated this in reaction to a declaration by the governor, that it was time for him to concentrate on ‘stomach infrastructure’ (welfare), having done enough in the provision of amenities since he assumed office in 2015.
Ati said beside pensions, no gratuities or their accumulated arrears had been paid.
The National Pension Commission’s (PenCom’s) status of implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and other pension schemes adopted by state governments show that Rivers has enacted a law on the CPS.
Having keyed into the CPS, the state government established a Pension Bureau and Board in line with CPS law, to manage the CPS.
Similarly, the state has done an actuarial valuation on the scheme. The purpose of actuarial valuation is to enable the state government to know its pension liability to the state employees who under the old Defined Benefits Scheme before the commencement of the CPS.
Besides, the state has opened a Retirement Benefits Bonds Redemption Fund Account (RBBRFA).The RBBRFA is an account where a specific amount based on actuarial calculation, which is a percentage of the salaries of the public servants of the state, who are members of the CPS is paid.
The funds are invested and used to pay the accrued rights of employees who were in service before the CPS.
Pension advocate, Mr. Ivor Takor, in a report, entitled: “Between Rivers State development, workers’ pension right and stomach infrastructure”, stated that the Retirement Benefits Bonds Redemption Fund Account (RBBRFA) is the beginning of the problems of employees and pensioners of the state.
He said the Rivers Government had not been funding the RBBRFA from where accrued rights of retiring employees are paid.
He noted that the state government funded the accounts once in 2012 with N300 million.
The reason for the funding, he said, had nothing to do with its desire to pay accrued rights of retiring employees.
Rather, the motivation was because the state government wanted to float a bond and was eyeing pension funds for that purpose, he added.
He said: “However, because PenCom came out with a policy that pension funds will not be invested in any bond of a state government that has not keyed into the CPS, the state government paid the money as proof of having fully keyed into the scheme. All those who are retiring are those who were in service before the commencement of the CPS and the bulk of the money from where their gratuities and pensions are to be paid from is under the accrued rights.
“Therefore, on retirement, without money in the RBBRFA, their gratuity and pension cannot be paid.
“The second problem is that of remittance of contributions. The state government has only been remitting the contributions of the employees into their RSAs.This means that the state government has not been contributing for the pension of her employees, which is a contravention of its pension law.
“It is for the above two reason that retiring employees of Rivers are being owed pensions and gratuities. The non-funding of the RBBRFA does not guarantee the payment of accrued pension rights of retiring employees. This is compounded by the Rivers government non-compliance with her pension law by the non-contributions for employees’ pension.
“The most effective way for employers (public and private) to secure their employees from old age poverty and destitution is through a pension plan. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has declared social security, with pension as a pillar, a human right, which in practical terms is understood as a need to guarantee universal protection.There are two legal frameworks that guarantee pensions – international and national. The international legal frameworks are two namely, the ILO Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No.102), a core ILO Convention, which Nigeria, a member of ILO has ratified.
“The second is the ILO Invalidity, Old Age and Survivors’ Benefits Convention, 1967 (No.128). This Convention envisage the provision of income security to people who have reached pensionable age.”
Takor added: “The ILO Conventions have been domesticated in national laws. For workers in the service of state governments, section 210 (1) of the 1999 Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution (as amended) provides that “Subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, the right of a person in the public service of a State to receive pension or gratuity shall be regulated by law”.
“While subsection (2) of the section provides that “Any benefit to which a person is entitled in accordance with or under such law as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall not be withheld or altered to his disadvantage except to such extent as is permissible under any law, including the Code of Conduct.’’
It is in compliance with these Constitutional provisions that Rivers State Government and others enacted pension laws for their employees.’’
“Pension helps an individual to maintain a standard of living close to when the individual was in active service in retirement because it guarantees a monthly income for life. It is therefore not surprising, that most Nigerians still want pension. Some former Governors enacted laws granting life pension for themselves and their deputies. The latest attempt was at the National Assembly, where some federal legislators wanted to insert pension for Principal Officers of the National Assembly in the Constitution.
“Therefore, the reaction of Lucky Ati the Rivers State Chairperson of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) on Governor Wike’s stomach infrastructure should not be seen as a criticism of the policy but a reminder and a wakeup call to the state governor on his government’s liability to the workers and pensioners of the state. The press in reporting Wike’s stomach infrastructure policy, credited him to haven said that the empowerments that the policy will bring is for those who have been patience. No categories of citizens of Rivers State have been patient with the governor like the State civil servants and pensioners. They have patiently kept quiet as their constitutionally guaranteed rights to pension is being withheld and altered by the state government.
“I therefore join workers and pensioners of Rivers State, who are not among those with “opportunities” of being able to primitively accumulate fraudulent and ill-gotten wealth during their service to the state to appeal to Governor Wike to comply with the provisions of ILO Conventions, the Constitution and the Pension Law of the State. This is will be done by paying pensioners the arrears of their pensions and gratuities as well as releasing money for accrued rights and employer’s contributions under the Contributory Pension Scheme”.
He added that in doing so, he will be leaving a legacy as a Governor who addressed issues connected with the nagging issues of taking the state pensioners out of the line of old age poverty and destitution.
It is not a gratuitous matter it is a guaranteed right. The State has the resources to enable the Governor to do that. It is a matter of the political will to do so, he said.