Pensioners to FG: Retirees yet to receive benefits almost 2 years after retirement

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector (NUPCPS) has called on the federal government to release funds to pay retirees their retirement benefits.

Sylva Nwaiwu, the national chairman of NUPCPS, spoke at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

Nwaiwu said workers who retired from the contributory pension scheme (CPS) in March 2023 have not received their retirement benefits.

He added that the office of the accountant-general of the federation (OAGF) has not done anything about the issue.

The national chairman also said the OAGF had not released funds for payment of the accrued rights as appropriated by the national assembly in the 2023 and 2024 budgets.

He said retirees under CPS could no longer endure any neglect.

According to Nwaiwu, senior citizens would have no other option than to turn the premises of the OAGF into their residence until the funds for the payment of their pension entitlements are released.

The chairman also asked the OAGF to explain if the funds appropriated by the federal government in the name of accrued rights and the payment of pension increments to retirees over the years had been expended.

“It is time for the Nigerian public to know where the funds being appropriated annually in our national budgets for CPS retirees since 2019 till date are,” he said.

“The primary objective of the CPS was for retired workers to receive their retirement benefits as at when due.”

Nwaiwu also said the federal government was yet to pay N32,000 pension increment to pensioners.

‘SABOTAGE AGAINST CPS’

Nwaiwu alleged sabotage against the CPS, adding that previous government regimes, especially during the immediate past administration had made frantic efforts to correct the abnormalities in the CPS, however, the OAGF had not allowed the efforts to succeed.

“The same is also true of the good intentions and initiatives to off-set outstanding accrued rights and pension increments in the CPS sector by the present administration under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu,” he said.

“Tinubu set up a high-powered committee of critical stakeholders in the country pension industry to determine all outstanding government liabilities in the CPS sector and to recommend ways and means to offset the liabilities.

“The above committee had since submitted its report and recommendations to the federal executive council (FEC) and a memo to that effect was written and signed by the minister of finance.

“But to our dismay, that memo is yet to be presented to the FEC. Not only that, since the committee’s report, of which the OAGF was a member, there has not been any release of funds as already appropriated for by the National Assembly in the 2023 and 2024 for CPS retirees.”

Nwaiwu said the defined benefit scheme (DBS) benefited from about four different pension increases, while CPS retirees are yet to receive it.