South-West pensioners seek creation of ministry

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South-West pensioners seek creation of ministry

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners, on Thursday, called for the creation of a new Ministry to address the plights of pensioners.

The union lamented that governors of the South-West states were owing pensioners their gratuities and pensions running into trillion of naira.

The South-West zone of NUP made the call after their quarterly meeting, held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

The meeting was attended by chairmen and secretaries of Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Lagos and Ekiti chapters of the union.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, the zonal Public Relations Officer of NUP, South-West, Olusegun Abatan, said the creation of the Ministry would turn the fortunes of pensioners in the country.

He urged all governors in the zone to implement the consequential adjustment and 35 per cent increment in pensions.

Abatan said, “I want to state regrettably that the condition of pensioners in other states of the South-West have remained the same.”

“The governors of Ogun, Ekiti and Osun have remained unyielding and insensitive to the plights of pensioners such that the gratuities of pensioners in many of these states were paid last in the year 2012 and they are owing arrears of pensions, gratuities and other entitlements, including gratuities and entitlements to the next of kin of deceased pensioners,” he alleged.

He said the governors needed to have a change of heart and step up their interests in the affairs of pensioners.

“We want to appeal to these governors in the name of whatever they worship to do something seriously about harmonisation of the pension of our pensioners,” he added.

Abatan also called on the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to do more for pensioners than what the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) had done in the last seven years.

“We appeal to the President-elect to please take the matter of pensioners more seriously than what President Muhammadu Buhari has been doing.

“Buhari has done quite a lot for pensioners, he might not have done well in other areas of governance, but he really helped pensioners and so we are appealing to Tinubu to please take the matter of pensioners as a serious matter.

“We want a separate Ministry to be created to address the interest of pensioners under the administration of Tinubu.”