Retirees from government services in the South-West have disclosed that they are being owed pensions and gratuities worth N242billion.
Disclosing this at their zonal meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, the retirees under the auspices of Nigeria Union of Pensioners(NUP) blamed all the state governors for failing to pay their pensions and gratuities as and when due.
The spokesman for the group,Comrade Olusegun Abatan, lamented that some of the governors obtained the nomination forms of their political parties running to several millions of naira even when they failed to pay pensions and gratuities in their states.
He said: “The condition of pensioners in south west still remains the same with unpaid gratuities. Many of these states in the south west are owing pensioners since 2012 and 2013. Pensioners are being owed between N68 to N78 billion.Ogun State is owing N68billion, Ondo State N78billion, Ekiti State N38billion and Osun N58billion. Lagos is almost free of indebtedness because it has entered into the Contributory Pension Scheme.”
He expressed reservation over the manner the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) were handling its plight and implored the two unions to urgently take appropriate step to rescue them.
He added:”We discovered that to liquidate, for example N68billion, it will take that government 34 years. And this brings to fore the core labour centres in this country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) as well as the Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) to please have a common understanding with Nigeria Union of Pension.What we are saying is that NLC and TUC should take the matters of pensioners as a matter of urgency and if possible, they should declare trade dispute with state governments that are owing pensioners huge amount of money.
“NLC and TUC have not been taken along during negotiations on the matter of pensioners. So, we are urging them to do that now. By doing that, they are laying the bed they are going to sleep because they will become pensioners tomorrow. It is in their own interest to take the matter of pensioners seriously”
He hinted that a drastic step would soon be taken across the nation if the present situation persisted.
He added: “We are not happy that politicians, particularly politicians of now are not interested in the welfare of pensioners as well as the entire citizenry. And what has really miffed us is that when they were voted into power, they will start policies that are injurious to the service.In most cases you find Governors or even Commissioners sacking workers that have been at work for the past 20 to 25 years. There should be a kind of structure that would that will not allow workers to be sacked anyhow.
“With regards to our unpaid entitlements, the NUP, South-West zone in cahoot with the national headquarters of our union will soon bring out a line of activities that will tell the world that pensioners are no longer going to tolerate the attitude of our governors and politicians.
“All efforts are now being geared towards 2023 election. The security of everybody is no longer on the plates of our politicians and political parties. And what is interesting is that governors that are owing pensioners seven years of unpaid gratuities and pensions were the first to pay N100 million for nomination form”
