Pensioners protest unpaid pension and 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.

The Nation