Retirees, under the auspices of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), have decried the significant hardship experienced by many of its members due to the economic downturn, saying some of them receive as meagre as N450, N500, and N1,000 monthly pension.
NUP president, Godwin Abumisi, made this known at a press briefing in Abuja.
“In Nigeria, government does not think about the poor people. Otherwise, how can pensioners in Enugu receive as low as N450 as monthly pension and we have been saying this but it seems as if we are crying wolf but it is a reality,” he said.
He pointed out that the issue of retirees receiving extremely low pension payments was particularly prevalent in the South-Eastern states.
Abumisi further detailed the monthly pension amounts received by retirees in specific states, including Borno N4,000; Gombe N8,000; Jigawa N12,000; Katsina N7,000; Kogi N5,000; Kwara N3,000; Niger N4,000; and Taraba N5,000, among others.
The NUP President further explained that the difference in pension rates across the country was due to a lack of pension harmonisation, which the union has consistently advocated for.
According to him, the situation is worsened by the failure of many states to implement the reviewed minimum wage of N18,000 in 2010 and N30,000 in 2019, a situation that has further led to pension increases corresponding to these wage reviews not being realised in the referenced states.
He emphasised that the union strongly opposes the excuses given by state governments regarding their inability to implement these wage reviews, especially considering the increased federal allocation to states under the current administration.
Abumisi said the union had proposed a National Minimum Pension of N100,000 to the Tripartite Committee, aligning with the Nigeria Labour Congress’s proposal for a N200,000 National Minimum Wage.
He noted that anything less than N100,000 monthly pension payments to retirees would be unacceptable to pensioners who are severely affected by the ongoing economic challenges, including the escalating cost of living and expressed the union’s readiness to lead pensioners in nationwide protests if their demands are not addressed by the Federal Government.
Abumisi said the protests would draw attention to the suffering of pensioners and could include mass demonstrations in Abuja, as authorised by the union’s members.
