The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Pensioners

  • PHCN pensioners demand over N16b arrears, severance benefits

    PHCN pensioners demand over N16b arrears, severance benefits

    • May begin nationwide protest today

    About 20, 000 electricity sector pensioners of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have given the Federal Government up till midnight today to pay their N16 billion outstanding pension arrears, gratuities, death benefits, among others.

    The pensioners under the umbrella- body of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), electricity sector, also want the government, through the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Limited (NELMCO), to pay the monthly pensions of their members for January and last month.

    They warned that the failure to pay the outstanding areas would result in a protest.

    President, NUP, Comrade Temple Ubani, said they were aware that the government had paid for the same period, other pensioners through the Pension Transitional Administration Department (PTAD).

    He said they were informed by NELMCO that NEPA/PHCN Pension Fund is classified as Capital Budget and domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria, where it is released quarterly to make for the monthly payment of pensioners. They criticised the arrangement as cumbersome and unwieldy.

    He noted that it is common knowledge that salaries and pensions are overhead expenses normally classified as recurrent budget and released monthly as first-line charge.

    “We have repeatedly experienced delays in payments during the first month of each quarter of the year as a result of the uncooperative attitude between the Ministry of Finance, the Budget Office and the Accountant-General’s Office, thereby making payment of our stipends very rigorous and tasking for NELMCO, every month.

    “Our union and NELMCO management have sought the intervention of relevant authorities, including the presidency and the National Assembly to redress these anomalies to no avail.

    “It is also on record that many NEPA/PHCN retirees have not been paid their outstanding terminal benefits.These include gratuities, arrears of pensions, death benefits to the next of kin of deceased workers and retirees and monetisation arrears. Others are harmonisation entitlements, electricity rebate benefits, spanning over several years, and different forms of verification exercises conducted by different Federal Government agencies.

    “In 2013 the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo informed the whole world that government had set aside over N16billion for the settlement of these liabilities. Unfortunately all targeted payment dates did not materialise and some beneficiaries have since died without getting their benefits,” he said.

    Ubani pointed out that they have taken notice of the concerned intervention of some critical stakeholders, like the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Phillip Aduda and the Director-General of PTAD, Ms. Nellie Mayshak, who have pleaded through the Managing Director of NELMCO, Dr. Samuel Agbogun, to give them some time.

    He said it is expected that their intervention shall facilitate the payment of their January and February Pensions by that date, and address other outstanding and residual matters.

    “Nonetheless, this memo shall serve as due notice to Government and NEPA/PHCN retirees, that in the event that arrears of pensions are not paid by 12 midnight on Wednesday, March 12, 2014, Government should hold its relevant agencies responsible for whatever reactions the pensioners, the widows and orphans of deceased power sector workers may decide to embark on,” he said.

  • Pensioners, workers’ benefits covered in Lagos budget

    Pensioners, workers’ benefits covered in Lagos budget

    Lagos State provided for pension payments and retirement benefits of workers in this year’s budget, the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pension, Mrs Florence Oguntuase, has said.

    She told reporters in Lagos that the budgetary provision would ensure that pensioners and workers did not suffer before they access their pensions. It will also ensure that the state did not default in payment.

    She said there are 34, 000 pensioners in the state, adding that all of them have been adequately provided for. She, however, said some parastatals that have not been able to present full documentation of their pensioners may have to wait a little more to get paid.

    She scolded the affected parastatals for not living up to expectations in terms of documentation, noting that the pre-retirement trainings and input by the Lagos State Pension Commission will end the problem.

    She urged would-be retirees to be prepared for retirement by been prudent in the management of their resources.

    “The budget that is being set aside consists of both the salaries of the workers as well as pensioners. We have made adequate provisions in the annual budget out of which we will pay salaries as well as pension.

    “Over all we have about 34,000 pensioners throughout the state and all of them have been adequately provided for. Before now, Lagos State has never defaulted in paying its workers’ salaries, or pensions and we will never default,” she said.

    The Lagos State House of Assembly approved a budget of N489. 690 billion for the 2014 fiscal year out of which N234.6 billion is for recurrent expenditure.

  • Pensioners urge FG to release 53.4% pension increase

    Pensioners urge FG to release 53.4% pension increase

    The National Union of Pensioners (NUP) has called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the release of the circular for the payment of 53.4% pension increase for pensioners.

    The union expressed disappointment over the way in which government was delaying the payment of the increase.

    According to the National President, Dr. Abel Afolayan, who made this disclosure during the 2013 Pension Day ceremony in Abuja, “the union sees the delay as a calculated attention to deprive her member of their right.”

    He added that “we hereby call on the federal government to expedite action on the release of the circular for the payment as we have been made to understand that the payment will be captured in the 2014 budget.”

    The union stated that the arrears of 142% increase have not been paid by some states.

    Commenting on local government pensioners, Afolayan said that the federal and state governments are defaulting in the payment of local government retirees and primary school teachers, which is the responsibility of the three tiers of government.

    He, however, noted that “only the local governments are regular in their payments.”

    NUP said that it was worried over the controversies surrounding the appointment of a substantive National Pension Commission Director General, which seemed to have been politicised.

  • Can Pension Reform Bill end pensioners’ agony?

    Can Pension Reform Bill end pensioners’ agony?

    With the submission of the much awaited report of the Pension Reform Bill (PRB) 2013 by the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, the stage is now set for an epic debate of the controversial Bill aimed at ending the pitiable plight of elderly citizens, writes Assistant Editor Onyedi Ojiabor.

    For many years, informed analysts have been insisting on a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s pension system.

    The pitiable plight of elderly citizens who suffer untold hardship after many years of meritorious service to their fatherland has only accentuated public interest for broad reform of the sector.

    With the submission of the much awaited report of the Pension Reform Bill (PRB) 2013 by the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service, the stage is now set for an epic debate of the controversial Bill.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Aloysius Etok, presented the voluminous report on October 29, after months of waiting by the upper chamber.

    The document, among other issues, covered submissions by stakeholders at a two-day public hearing and conclusions of the committee.

    It also included recommendations of the committee meant to guide the lawmakers in their deliberations.

    The actions and inactions of some pension administrators laid the unfortunate foundation for the scandalous deeds trailing the country pension sector.

    Bare-faced lies and confounding falsehood, ever blossoming thievery of pension funds and activities of rapacious pension administrators more than anything made the repeal and re-enactment of the Pension Act 2004 more urgent than ever.

    That pensioners in the country are frustrated, disillusioned and abandoned while pension managers steal funds meant for them unashamedly is no longer news.

    Perhaps what will be news is the way out of the flagrant and brazen looting of pension funds being orchestrated by mindless civil servants.

    Concerns are growing that unless steps are urgently taken to address the serial stealing of pension funds the country may never know peace.

    Senate President David Mark, who had been critical about the need to reform the country’s pension system, described those prowling pension funds as stealing blood money.

    The Senators are expected in their classic debate of the all-important Bill to rise to the occasion, eschew primordial sentiments and seize the momentum by doing the needful so as to wipe out the mental agony inflicted on Nigerian pensioners.

    Watchers of the National Assembly say the potency and effectiveness of the Bill must not be lost on the lawmakers just as the poignant portions of the Bill must also not be glossed over.

    Although stakeholders at the public hearing insisted that the National Assembly must get the PRB right in the interest of pensioners, strangely enough, some lawmakers were already behaving as though they have interest in some of the clauses.

    It may be necessary to state the high points of the Pension Reform Amendment Bill 2013.

    The thrusts of the PRA 2013 Bill include to enhance the powers of the Pension Commission in its regulatory and enforcement activities as well as to enhance the protection of pension fund assets.

    The Bill also seeks to unlock the opportunities for the deployment of pension assets for national development, to review the sanctions regime to reflect current realities, to provide for the participation of the Informal Sector.

    It seeks to provide the framework for the adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) by States and Local Governments.

    The Pension Transition Arrangement Departments (PTADs) is duly highlighted in the Bill.

    The PTAD is specifically designed to take over the payment of pensions to pre-2004 Pension Reform (retirees under the old pension scheme) from the Police Pension Office, Customs, Immigration Pension Office, and the Civil Service Pension Department.

    What is more, PTAD is planned to ensure that monies of this set of pensioners are transmitted directly into their bank accounts rather than through a third-party (the pension departments) as it is now the case.

    Observers noted unfortunately, that PTAD was not activated in line with Section 30, Sub Section 2 (a) of the Pension Reform Act 2004 until the present Acting Director General of Pension Commission took over.

    President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have only recently appointed a DG for the PTAD.

    Analysts said: “In order to put a permanent end to the era of impunity and, in some instances, widespread corruption in the various Pension Departments, the PRA 2013 Bill seeks to enhance the regulatory authority and efficiency of the Commission to provide greater oversight on, and reposition PTADs.

    Review of the penalties and sanctions in Sections 91 – 104 of the Bill is also worth of note.

    Stakeholders strongly believed that the sanctions currently provided under the PRA 2004 are no longer sufficient deterrents against infractions of the PRA 2004.

    For them, “there are currently more sophisticated mode of diversion of pension assets, such as diversion and/or non-disclosure of interests and commissions accruable to pension fund assets, which were not addressed by the PRA 2004.”

    As a result the 2013 PRB seeks to create new offences and provide for stiffer penalties that will serve as deterrence against mismanagement or diversion of pension funds assets under any guise, as well as other infractions of the provisions of the Act.

    Another pertinent Section of the Bill deals with upward review of minimum rate of pension contribution (S. 4(1) of the Bill).

    The Committee recommended that the minimum pension contribution of 15 per cent of employee’s monthly emolument is not adequate enough to generate the required retirement benefits for the worker.

    Some also argued that the equality of 7.5 per cent rate of contribution payable by both the employer and the employee is not equitable especially because the employer has a stronger financial muscle.

    It, therefore, proposed an upward review of the rate of contribution and the proportion of the rate payable by the employer and the employee.

    The proposed minimum rate is 20 per cent of the monthly emolument payable as12 per cent by the employer and 8 per cent by the employee.

    On adoption of the Contributory Pension Scheme by States and Local Governments, Sections 2-3 of the Bill, stakeholders believe that the measure would go a long way to address pension problems in state and local governments.

    It was argued that given “the clear benefits recorded from the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) at the Federal level and the private sector, there is a consensus among stakeholders on the need to provide the framework that would facilitate the adoption of the CPS by States and Local Governments subject to local variations.”

    That may have informed a provision for the adoption of CPS by States and Local Governments to be inserted into the PRA 2013 Bill.

    Analysts say that States and Local Government CPS would assist to address the pension crises in the 36 States of the Federation.

    The years of qualifying experience for the Director-General and Commissioners on Section 26(2)(d) and Section 26(5) of the Bill was equally crucial to stakeholders.

    The PRA 2013 Bill scrutinised the provision of the 2004 Act with respect to qualifying years of experience for the Director-General such that the requirement is graduated in descending order from that of the Chairman at 20 years to that of the Director-General at 15 years.

    The Committee recommended the removal of 20 years of experience and replaced it with competency just as is the case with other financial regulatory agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) Act 2006, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).

    Analysts believed that deemphasising years of experience is “consistent with global best practice, which emphasizes competency rather than years of post-qualification experience, which does not necessarily translate into capacity and capability.”

    The recommendation on years of experience for the appointment of the DG is in line with the views and position of critical stakeholders at the two day public hearing.

    National President of Federal Universities Pensioners Association, Dr. Ayuba Kura, noted that “the issue of experience in Nigeria is sometimes a very dangerous issue.

    Kura added: “It is not how long you have stayed in the office that makes you an experienced person but what have you contributed, what have you done that will make you to occupy a position.”

    For him the country should appoint people who are growing because “they have the exuberance, the feeling and they will do better”.

    Vice-President, External Affairs, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Adamu Kabiru Matazu, said: “We, the Nigerian students and vibrant youths of this nation, believe that age and experience though important do not translate to competence.

    “We, the Nigerian students and youth, represent about 60 per cent of Nigeria’s population.

    “We believe that the future belongs to us. We consider this campaign against competence-based leadership as not only mischievous and devilish, but runs contrary to the beliefs and ideals of this great administration and the efforts to move it forward.

    “We refer to them as enemies of the pension reform who prefer the return to status quo ante rather than embrace change and move on.

    “Recycling of old leaders is not in tandem with recent development strides achieved by the youths all over the world.

    “Moreover, if our constitution sets the age qualification to be president at 40 years, what stops a Director General at 40 years or below from occupying the position if found competent, especially when the DG would be reporting to the President?

    “We find this antithetical to Mr. President’s transformation agenda of enhancing efficiency, resourcefulness and competence of human resource personnel for nation building.

    “NANS is interested in this reform because we are the future of this nation, tomorrow’s workforce and future would-be pensioners and retirees. We have a stake here and will fight for and secure our future now. For us, our future starts today.”

     

    Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office

     

    “On the issue of appointment of PENCOM DG, 15 years is enough for anybody to be so appointed, more especially, if the person has worked within the system. In addition to cognate experience, there is something that you cannot take away from a person who has worked within a system and knows the nitty-gritty of it.”

    Vice-President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Isa Aremu, in an interview on the pension reform, said: “As good as the old provisions were, there are lots of gaps. For instance, you put the experience of the DG at 20, you are silent on that of the commissioners.

    “In fact, for commissioners, no provisions for any years of experience and as a matter of fact, commissioners constitute the reserve pool for future DG.

    “If the DG is away, any of the commissioners could have come on board. So, with the way the existing provision is, a youth corper or an intern could be made a commissioner and automatically could become a DG because the provision was very silent on that.

    “You can have people with experience, 20 years, 30 years who could be honest and reliable and manage this scheme well. But you could also have people with 30 years of experience and mismanaged the scheme.

    “In fact, some people have argued that after 20 years of experience in any field, such person may not be able to add more value to whatever the person is being given, because of law of diminishing returns.

    “We also run organisations. I am a chief executive officer of an organisation. If they have asked some of us about such long years of experience, we probably would not have been able to occupy the positions we occupy today.

    “I couldn’t have been NLC’s Vice President and could not have even be the General Secretary of the Textile Workers’ union, which is also a Chief Executive’s position.

    “But beyond the experience, people also want to know your commitment and integrity. So, as experience and years also matter, I think we should also add the issue of competence.”

    Though no date has been slated for the consideration of the report, Nigerians, especially pensioners, are waiting to see what the National Assembly would do with the Bill.

    Will the lawmakers plug the loopholes that has made it practically impossible for pensioners to receive their pay as at when due?

    Will the parliamentarians shirk their responsibility and continue to look the other way while their compatriot to continue to wallow in man-made poverty? Time will tell.

  • Lagos pensioners protest non-payment of gratuity

    Lagos pensioners protest non-payment of gratuity

    Pensioners in Lagos State yesterday stormed the office of Governor Babatunde Fashola at Alausa, Ikeja, to protest unpaid pension arrears and gratuity.

    The protesters, who were largely retired teachers and local government workers, carried placards with inscription, such as: “Non-review of the pension law for over 10 years”; “We are tired of unfulfilled promises” and “Except Lagos, other Southwest states have complied with the FG’s directive on the increment of pension”.

    Southwest Chairman of the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) Nojeemdeen Adebayo, who led the protesters, said some of their colleagues have died waiting for their entitlements and some were hospitalised.

    He lamented that the state did not yield to the Federal Government’s directive on pension increment in 2003 and 2007, adding that whenever they demand their fund, the government would plead for more time to pay it.

    Adebayo said rather than pay pensioners, the government was investing in the contributory pension scheme.

    He said: “In 2003, the Federal Government directed states to increase pensioner’s monthly salary by six per cent, but Lagos failed to pay the increment. In 2007, the Federal Government directed that pensioners should be paid 16 per cent increment, but the Lagos State government turned a deaf ear to this.

    “For over four years now, the government has been asking pensioners to be patient, but this has not yielded a solution. That was why we decided to come to the Governor’s Office to demand our rights. We are giving the government two weeks to pay the pension arrears and gratuity.

    “Though the Lagos State government has been paying our monthly pension and we thank the governor for that, we are appealing to him to intervene in the payment of the gratuities of our members, who have been out of service for over 10 years.”

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy Aderemi Ibirogba, and his counterpart in the Ministry of Pension and Establishment, Mrs. Florence Oguntuase, assured the pensioners that they will get all their entitlements.

    Mrs. Oguntuase said: “We are working hard to ensure that the funds are paid, but it is yet to yield the required result. What we are doing is to pay all the current liabilities.

    “When a public servant retires, it takes sometime before the pension begins to roll in. We are paying their pension. When the government started the payment of pension in 2007, local governments did not start until 2010. So this resulted into a shortfall of three years.

    “We realised that those retiring at that time in local governments would not be able to collect their entitlements. As a result of the three-year gap, there was a shortfall of N3.40 billion, so the state government met with the council chairmen to provide the fund for the retirees.

    “The Federal Government has not reimbursed the states and that is what is hindering the payment of gratuity, pension and arrears.”

    Ibirogba assured the pensioners that the government would dialogue with the parties concerned to resolve the problem.

    He said: “You have presented your grievances and we will relate that to the governor, who is not around presently.”

  • N10m verification tears pensioners apart

    N10m verification tears pensioners apart

    The National Population Commission Pensioner’s Association is raising eyebrows over what they describe as “questionable verification” exercise which is costing the association a lot in monetary terms.

    The association made this disclosure during a hotly debated session during their monthly general meeting in Lagos over the weekend.

    The president of the association, Alhaji Adekola Mohammed, while addressing retirees recalled that “the verification exercise that was first done last year cost the Board of Trustees N2.5million. Now this year, the same verification was done under the chairmanship of Mr. Festus Odumegwu for N10million.”

    Expatiating, Mohammed said: “When the issue was raised at the BOT meeting I lamented seriously that the price is too exorbitant and that the issue of verification is staff matters, not that of politicians because they are on appointment, they will be there just for a while and as such they are not meant to have any say on the issue of Pensioners fund.”

    Mr. Peters Rotimi, a member of the association who decried the rising cost of the verification exercise, recalled that past executive members of the association rallied round for the money used for last year’s verification, but wondered why the current BOT had to gulp N10million for the same exercise this year.

    Echoing similar sentiments, another member of the association, who would not be named, questioned the decision of the BOT by asking the president to explain why the account that has being used to pay them for over a period of time suddenly became faulty just two months ago, adding that a vote of no confidence should be passed to remove the president as he not capable of challenging the members of the BOT.

  • N1b succour excites pensioners

    N1b succour excites pensioners

    Workers in the public and private sectors are always gripped with fear anytime they are approaching retirement because of the plight of pensioners in Nigeria.

    Payment of benefits to retirees has become a critical sore point in pension administration in Nigeria and has constituted a big headache to governments at all levels and the private sector.

    Many senior citizens who had invested their youthful years in the service of their fatherland are being made to undergo harrowing experiences in their bid to get their gratuities and pensions.

    Apart from the fact that they are owed a backlog of arrears in benefits, many of them have died in the struggle to get what is due to them from the agencies and organisations they had served meritoriously.

    Other pensioners who are lucky to be alive have retired into abject poverty because of the non-payment of their monthly pension.

    It has been discovered that the suffering pensioners are made to undergo in Nigeria is one of the reasons serving officials engage in various acts of corruption so as to ‘enjoy’ in retirement.

    But the situation is changing in Ekiti State where the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who is popularly known as “the benefactor of the aged”, is already bringing succour to the pensioners in the state.

    Pensioners in Ekiti State are now having cause to smile because of the attention they now receive from an administration that believes that they must get what is due to them when they are alive, not when they are dead.

    Governor Fayemi approved over N1 billion for the payment of pensions to the retirees who worked in the state civil service, retired teachers in secondary schools, local government retirees and retired teachers in primary schools for the months of April and May, 2014.

    A visit to the State Pension Commission office, Ado-Ekiti and other pay points in the state revealed a flurry of activities leading to the collection of cheques by pensioners.

    The appreciative pensioners who never expected that they would be remembered so soon are showering praises and prayers on Dr. Fayemi for bringing comfort to them.

    According to the Chairman of the State Pension Commission (PENCOM), Chief Oluwole Ojo, Governor Fayemi had in 2012 set up a committee to look into the problem of backlog of arrears owed pensioners in the state.

    Findings of the committee revealed that the Federal Government owes Ekiti State N2.8 billion in arrears of gratuities to Ekiti pensioners.

    Having the knowledge that it is the people of the state that are being owed retirement benefits, Dr. Fayemi, out of compassion for the longsuffering retirees worked out a programme of payment on monthly basis.

    A total number of 132 retired local government workers and retired primary school teachers were paid N251.3 million for the month of April.

    In the same month, 131 retired workers in the state civil service and retired secondary school teachers received N252.6 million for the payment of their pension.

    For the month of May, 139 retired local government workers and retired primary school teachers benefited from pension funds to the tune of N250.8 million.

    Retired civil service workers and retired secondary school teachers who are 127 in number also received N250.6 million in the same month of May.

    The current batch of pensioners captured in the ongoing process in Ekiti on sector-by-sector basis are 1,755 made up of 1,045 local government service workers and 710 in the state civil service.

    The payment of arrears of pension for the 1,755 pensioners is spread between April 2013 and January 2014.

    As a foretaste of what was to come for the pensioners, Governor Fayemi had on September 14, 2012 effected payment of gratuities totaling N501 million to 269 retirees.

    The Ekiti PENCOM boss, Chief Ojo, said Governor Fayemi’s gesture has brought relief to pensioners in the state and given hope to those in service that their labour would not be in vain.

    The PENCOM chief said he was not surprised by the Governor’s attitude towards the pensioners because the state operates the first Social Security Scheme for the Aged in West Africa in which the beneficiaries are receiving N5,000 monthly stipends.

    He said, “I have to thank Mr. Governor for taking the plight of the old people into consideration, for taking it upon himself not allow these people to die in penury.

    “This is a feat the beneficiaries never thought could happen so soon.

    We have to thank appreciate him and thank him.

    “With what he is doing, he should be allowed to see into fruition all these beautiful programmes and magnificent projects being executed in the state.

    “I know that regular payment of benefits to pensioners will have a great impact on the economy in the grassroots because they will have one thing or the other to buy with the money they are being paid.

    “In fact, Mr. Governor took us by surprise by releasing the money we are paying to our pensioners. Those who had thought they will never be paid are now jumping for joy and they are thanking him for performing this feat.”

    One of the beneficiaries, Mr. James Olowosejeje, said the pensioners were surprised by Governor Fayemi’s unexpected windfall at a time government is carrying out capital intensive projects in all nooks and crannies of the state.

    He said, “We pray that God will continue to bless Fayemi for us and spare his life for more selfless service to the people of the state.

    “We never expected that our pension will be paid this time because many projects that the governor is doing in every parts of the state because all these projects cost lots of money.

    “Projects like new buildings, roads, bridges, streetlights, school renovation, provision of laptops for our children, Ikogosi tourism project, youth and women empowerment and monthly allowances to the old people cost the state so much but we never expected that we pensioners

    will be remembered.

    “We are all praying for him to succeed in his vision to make the state great and we are rewarding him with our votes at next year’s governorship election because Fayemi is a friend of pensioners.”

    Another pensioner, Mrs. Iyabo Adelusi, said she did not believe the story that they would be paid until her she came along with her son to the state PENCOM office for verification and collection of her cheque.

    Mrs. Adelusi noted that the money she collected would go a long way in injecting life into her small scale business and giving her the needed economic empowerment.

    She described Governor Fayemi as a “compassionate man who cares for the less privileged”.

    As Ekiti pensioners continue to savour the largesse, the multiplier effects of Governor Fayemi’s gesture would continue to be felt in various homes and communities.

    This is a fulfilment of the governor’s desire to deeply entrench human capital development and ensure the delivery of dividends of democracy to the populace.

     

    •Ogunmola, Special Assistant (Media) to the Governor, writes from Ado-Ekiti

     

  • Ekiti pensioners to get N1b

    Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi has brought smiles to the faces of pensioners, with the payment of arrears of N1 billion to 1,755 beneficiaries.

    Of the beneficiaries, there are 1,045 pensioners, who worked as local government staff and primary school teachers, as well as 710 pensioners, who worked in the civil service and teachers in secondary schools.

    Retired local government workers and primary school teachers received N251.3 million for April. Their counterparts, who worked in the civil service and teachers in secondary schools got N252.6 million for the same month.

    Retired council workers and primary school teachers got N250.8 million for May. Retired civil servants and secondary school teachers received N250.6 million for the same month.

    The Chairman of the Pension Commission, Chief Oluwole Ojo, said the gesture was borne out of Fayemi’s interest in ensuring that those, who have served the government meritoriously, are taken care of in retirement.

    Ojo said the payment of the pension for the retirees is spread between April and next January.

    He said modalities had been put in place at the pay points to prevent ghost pensioners from benefiting from the exercise.

    The Pension Commission boss noted that government’s gesture would boost the economy at the grassroots and assist the retirees in taking care of their needs.

    He said Fayemi proved to be a friend of the old with the implementation of the Social Security Scheme for the aged in which old people receive N5,000 stipends monthly.

    According to him, the governor in September last year approved N501 million for the payment of gratuities to 269 retirees.

    Ojo said: “We thank Governor Fayemi for taking the plight of the old people into consideration; for taking it upon himself not to allow these people to die in penury.

    “This is a feat the beneficiaries never thought could happen so soon. We thank and appreciate him.

    “With what he is doing, he should be allowed to see into fruition the beautiful programmes and laudable projects being executed in the state.

    “I know that regular payment of benefits to pensioners will have a great impact on the economy at the grassroots because they will have one thing or the other to buy with the money they are being paid.

    “Governor Fayemi surprised us by releasing the money we are paying to our pensioners. Those who had thought they would never be paid are now jumping for joy and thanking him for performing this feat.”

    Ojo urged workers, who are still in service, to join the Contributory Pension Scheme, which he described as an antidote to the problems confronting pension administration in Nigeria.

  • Pay pensioners’ arrears now

    SIR: This clearly is the season of monumental national scams and scandals. However, the mindless swindling of the nation’s hapless pensioners to the tune of billions of naira, certainly represents the most inexplicable and sadistic malfeasance ever perpetrated in Nigeria’s inglorious history.

    Only depraved and disoriented minds can ever contemplate depriving the nation’s senior citizens of their well-deserved benefits; those who in various capacities gave their best prime years to nation building.

    To redress this unmitigated injustice, the federal government is urged, as a matter of utmost urgency, to settle all outstanding arrears of federal pensioners.

    It will be a grave misjudgement to take these elderly citizens for granted. The nation, already prostrate from years of misrule, risks further negative spiritual backlash and consequences, if the authorities falsely assume that since Nigerian pensioners maybe unable to precipitate any effective industrial action, they can be persistently ignored.

    In the inimitable words of a great American President: ‘A nation which cannot help the poor and weak who are many, cannot save the few who are rich’.

    • Simeon Odugba,

    Gwarinpa, Abuja.

     

  • Pensioners hail Pensions Complaints Resolution Committee

    SOME pensioners have praised the new 25-member Pension Complaints Resolution Committee set up by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HOCSF), Alhaji Bukar Aji.

    Pa Balogun Idowu, a civil service retiree, told The Nation that it was a welcome development. He added that it was long overdue considering the hardship that old citizens experience before they receive their pensions.

    Mrs Alarape Abdul Raman, who retired from the Federal Ministry of Works, said the committee came at the right time. She, however, urged its members to be focused.

    The Director,Communication of the Civil Service, Mr Tope Ajakaiye, said the committee was set up to resolve the over 10,000 complaints on pension payments and related issues.

    He said the committee, which has three months to complete the assignment, is headed by Mr Zesley Zafi, the Director, Employee Relations and Welfare in the office of the HOCSF.

    He added that the committee has members from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as well as the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).

    “It also has members from the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) and the office of the HOCSF,” he added.

    “Reform measures introduced, especially since the advent of civilian administration in Nigeria in 1999, have thrown up new challenges as recent events have shown.

    “Since the HOCSF Office assumed responsibility for direct monthly payment of pensions in November, last year, the exercise had progressed. But that was not without difficulties,” hesaid.

    He noted that there had been various complaints from pensioners, some of which include omission of pensioners’ names from the payroll, and non-payment of gratuity and death benefits.

    “Others are the harmonisation of the six per cent and 15 per cent increase for some pensioners, short/irregular payment of pension and payment of long-standing arrears for both federal and state pensioners with federal share and non-enrolment for monthly pension, among others.’’

    Ajakaiye, therefore, reassured pensioners and Nigerians that during the tenure the administration, pension administration would be run transparently.

    “It is in the realisation of this objective that the new committee was constituted to deal decisively with these complaints and bring succour to our senior citizens,” he said.