Nigeria: Pensioners ask FG to allocate funds to pay off accrued entitlements

…2023 CPS retirees have yet to be paid

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners’ Accumulated Pension Scheme Sector, NUPCPS, has appealed to the Federal Government to release funds to pay the accumulated portion of the pension benefits of retirees.

The National Chairman of NUPCPS, Mr. Sylva Nwaiwu, who spoke in Abuja, also called on the Federal Government to pay retirees a pension supplement of N32,000.

He said Nigerian workers who retired from the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, about 20 months ago (March 2023 to date) are yet to be paid their retirement benefits.

According to him, the General Accounting Office of the OAGF has not yet done anything.

The National Chairman also disclosed that the OAGF has not released funds to pay the accrued entitlements as envisaged by the National Assembly in the 2023 and 2024 budgets.

He said CSP retirees could no longer tolerate any neglect.

According to him, pensioners will have no choice but to convert the premises of the General Account of the Office of the Federation into their homes until funds are released to pay their pension benefits.

Nwaiwu called on the OAGF to also explain whether funds appropriated by the Federal Government in the name of accrued entitlements and payment of pension supplements to retirees over the years were spent.

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

He said the main goal of CPS is to ensure that retirees receive their retirement benefits on time.

Nwayu alleged sabotage against the CPS, adding that all past government regimes, especially during the previous administration, made desperate efforts to correct the anomalies in the CPS, but the OAGF did not allow these efforts to succeed.

“The same applies to the good intentions and initiatives to offset the outstanding accrued entitlements and pension allowances in the CPS sector by the current President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

“Tinubu has constituted a high-powered committee of key pension industry stakeholders in the country to identify all outstanding government liabilities in the CPS sector and recommend ways and means to clear the liabilities.

“The said committee has since submitted its report and recommendations to the Federal Executive Council, FEC and a note to this effect has been written and signed by the Minister of Finance.

“But to our disappointment, this memorandum has not yet been submitted to the FEC. Not only that, since the report of the committee of which OAGF was a member, there has been no release of funds that were already allocated by the National Assembly in 2023 and 2024 for CPS retirees,” the national chairman said.

Nwaiwu said the Defined Benefit Scheme, DBS, has benefited from about four different pension increases while CPS pensioners are yet to receive it.

Following the pension adjustment arising from the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024, a pension supplement of N32,000 per month was approved for pensioners.

Also in September, the Union sent a corresponding letter to the Ministry of Finance.