Niger pensioners protest non-payment of gratuities, lambast Gov Bello

No fewer than twenty Pensioners have allegedly died in Niger State inside a yr owing to non-payment of pension and gratuities by the state authorities.

Findings revealed confirmed that the pensioners are confronted with challenges equivalent to eviction from their houses, lack of ability to feed their households, medical payments, and fee of faculty charges for his or her kids, all of which have compelled them to take up menial jobs and begging, amongst others to assist their households.

Some pensioners who spoke to DAILY POST stated their colleagues died as a result of strain from the non-payment of their pensions and gratuities, including that ” they have been unable to deal with themselves and their households even when sick. But, they’ve monies within the arms of presidency”.

They claimed that after over 10 years of retirement, they have been but to be paid their gratuities whereas others claimed they have been paid 30 per cent of their gratuities months after retirement and up till now, none of them has gotten the stability of their gratuities

Lamenting their predicament, they disclosed that regardless of 17 screening workouts carried out by the Niger State authorities for pensioners previously seven years, the invention of ghost pensioners and alleged monies recovered, the federal government nonetheless owes over 10,000 pensioners their gratuities.

In opposition to this backdrop, on Monday, the pensioners defied the heavy rain to protest the continued denial of their pensions, matching to the Niger State authorities home.

The retirees additionally carried placards with numerous inscriptions equivalent to ‘non-payment of pension shouldn’t be acceptable, ‘no gratuity, no pension, no vote for APC’, ‘Pensioners lives matter, ‘we will occupy till Lolo pays’.

They demanded for the fee of their gratuities, fee of the 70 per cent stability for individuals who have been paid 30 per cent, stoppage of the contributory pension scheme which they famous was a fraud and an upward overview of the month-to-month pension is paid

On Tuesday, the retirees additionally assembled in entrance of the federal government home the place each Christian and Muslim pensioners held separate prayers for God’s intervention within the matter. They vowed to not depart the premises till the governor meets their calls for.

John James, a pensioner who left the civil service in 2014 from the Ministry of Girls Affairs stated he was paid solely 30 per cent of his entitlement, which amounted to N565,000 and since then, nothing else has been paid to him

He stated,” I misplaced my spouse on this battle as a result of the considering was an excessive amount of, she was pissed off and developed hypertension, we took her to normal hospital however there was no cash to deal with her and so we misplaced her. One other of my colleague a retired chief nursing officer within the Suleja Common hospital was knocked down by a automotive when he was going about to search for cash to pay college charges of his son who acquired admission into the Kaduna State Polytechnic”.

Binta Mohammed Galadima who retired from the Ministry of Well being in 2018, alleged that ” the Governor’s kids are overseas having fun with. She stated, we’ve got the identical head, they don’t seem to be higher than us. They need to inform Lolo (the Governor) to pay us our cash in order that we will deal with ourselves and our youngsters”.

Berde Haruna popularly referred to as Dogo, who retired from Niger State Performing Troop, GWAPE worldwide, stated it has been tough for him since retiring three years in the past as he’s but to obtain his gratuity.

Matina James who retired in 2015 alongside her husband from Munya LG stated, ” since 2015, the federal government paid us 30 per cent and until now, the 70 per cent is but to be paid nor our arrears both. It has affected me. Our kids can not go to highschool, they’ve taken to hawking simply to maintain the household”.

In the meantime, the Spokesman of the pensioners, Ibrahim Mahmud and different leaders of the group who have been invited by the Secretary to the Niger State Authorities, Ahmed Ibrahim Matane for a gathering, lamented the difficulties confronted by the members ensuing within the demise of many pensioners within the state.

Mahmud said,” on Monday morning, two of our pensioners who have been admitted within the hospital died as they weren’t receiving the wanted medical remedy as a result of lack of funds. The federal government shouldn’t be sympathetic to our plight and has deserted us to endure, regardless of receiving a number of bailout funds and Paris Membership funds from the federal authorities”.

To placate the indignant pensioners, the SSG requested them to offer the federal government until the tip of the month for his or her gratuities to be paid.

He added that the federal government is sympathetic to the plight of the pensioners however denied data of the truth that some retirees haven’t obtained both their pension or gratuity.

He claimed, ” there are a variety of anomalies within the pension system within the state that we try to resolve. There are ghost pensioners, there are pensioners who’re overpaid, there are pensioners who’re underpaid, those that have retired and never collected pension and there’s non-availability of enough knowledge of pensioners on the native authorities stage”.

Nevertheless, the Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners NUP, Niger State chapter, Isyaku Ndagi throughout a go to to the Appearing Director Common of the State’s Pension Board, Nasiru Namaska disassociated the Union from the protest by a number of the retirees whereas interesting to them to keep up due course of.

Niger pensioners protest non-payment of gratuities, lambast Gov Bello