Pensioners under the umbrella of the Concerned Pensioners Association, Benue State chapter, on Wednesday defied heavy rainfall to protest the non-payment of outstanding gratuities dating back to the year 2000.
The association is a splinter group of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners registered in 2022.
The pensioners, who marched in the rain along Naka Road, carried placards with various inscriptions.
Addressing journalists during the protest, the chairman of the association, Akosu Orban, said the demonstration was triggered by the failure of Governor Hyacinth Alia to fulfil promises made to members in 2022.
When asked why pensioners collaborated with the Motorcycle Operators Association in the state to purchase the governor’s nomination and expression of interest forms despite their situation, Orban said it was done to compel the governor to address their demands.
“Yes, it was from our contributions that the union got the money to join hands with the motorcycle association to purchase the governor’s return nomination and expression of interest forms, with the hope that he will redeem the pledges he made to us during the build-up to the 2023 election.
“But today we regret that step we took to purchase the governor’s nomination and expression of interest forms.”
He threatened that members would occupy the Government House in the coming days if their demands were not addressed.
He listed the demands to include non-payment of outstanding pension arrears ranging from 38 to 62 months for state and local government pensioners, respectively.
He also cited non-harmonisation of pension rates as stipulated in Section 210 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), alleging that some pensioners receive as little as N2,000 monthly instead of the approved N40,000.
He further alleged collusion between the state government and the Nigeria Union of Pensioners to the detriment of members of his association.
He added that some pensioners were still being paid N2,000 monthly despite long years of service.
He further said, “Because of hardship occasioned by non-payment of our pension and gratuity, pensioners have lost their wives to okada boys (commercial motorcyclists) because we are no longer productive enough to cater for them.”
The pensioners called on President Bola Tinubu and the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, to intervene and prevail on the state government to address their demands.
Meanwhile, the state government said the inherited backlog of unpaid pensions and gratuities stood at about N300bn, describing it as the highest in the country.
The Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Michael Oglegba, said in a telephone interview that the government was doing its best to defray the arrears.
“What we inherited from both local government and state is over N300bn; that is the highest in this country. That is what we inherited, but we are doing our very best to pay what we can.
“So they have the right to demonstrate, but the government, in its wisdom, is doing its best. We are paying backlog,” he said.
The commissioner added that since assuming office in 2023, the government had been paying 100 per cent gratuity to all those who retired from service from 2023.
He said arrears of those who left service before 2023 were being paid gradually, noting that available funds were insufficient to clear all obligations at once.
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