FG promises to clear pension arrears as retirees protest in Abuja

The Federal Government has promised to pay the outstanding pension arrears as it released only about 25 per cent of the total amount budgeted for 2024.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made the commitment on Tuesday when retirees from Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme staged a protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.

Addressing the crowd, Edun disclosed that of the N88 billion budgeted for pension arrears in 2024, N22bn had already been disbursed.

The retirees, angered by the delay in the payment of their pension arrears, blocked the main entrance of the ministry’s secretariat, demanding an audience with the minister.

He assured the retirees that the remaining funds would be paid by the end of the year, with disbursements set to commence next week.

“What has happened is that there is a backlog in terms of contributions, the backlog under the old system and there is a solution.

“There has been a committee under the Head of Service, which has met the Minister of Budget, and we have a plan for dealing with the backlog under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

“In addition, under the current budget (2024), there is about N88bn of which N22bn has been paid. And that balance, we are committed to paying it. It has to be paid this year. We are committed to doing that starting next week,” he said.

For a sustainable solution, Edun revealed that the FG is considering raising funds through the capital market to clear the backlog.

“In terms of the longer term, it is a huge amount, and we have to have a solution that takes care of everybody. That is being worked on. It’s going to be a question of going to the capital market and raising an instrument that allows that backlog to be cleared once and for all.

“In the immediate term, there will be payment for what is under the current budget and we are working, and we will present to Mr President a viable solution using the financial market to take care of the huge backlog under the contributory pension scheme.

“Your funding under the budget will be paid. We will start next week and pay for everything that we can under the current budget as approved by the National Assembly,” Edun said.

The minister’s assurances come as retirees across the country continue to express concerns over delayed payments, calling for prompt action to alleviate their financial hardships.

Earlier in his address, the National Chairman, Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector, Sylva Nuatawu, called for a consequential adjustment in pension, arising from the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024.

Nuatawu said the union had written several letters to the ministry without response, a development that pushed members to converge at the ministry’s entrance gate.

The NUPCPS chairman urged the FG to pay the N32,000 pension increment to pensioners, saying that Nigerian workers who retired from the Contributory Pension Scheme over 20 months ago (March 2023 till date) were yet to be paid their retirement benefits.

“CPS retirees were excluded from the three pension increments paid or approved by the present administration to retired public servants.

“Also, the release of funds for accrued rights to retired workers accumulated to over 20 months. However, three months accrued rights were released after a peaceful rally by the union at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on Oct. 23.

“We still have a backlog of 18 months yet to be released and this presents a cause for concern and worry to us as retired workers under the CPS,” Nwaiwu said.

He said that retirees under CPS have become an endangered species, highly famished, dehumanised and subjected to untold hardship in the country.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the backlogs of pensions owed by the federal and state governments have increased to over N193bn.

Although several states such as Zamfara, Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, and others have been clearing the backlogs, it was gathered that the FG had yet to clear over N88bn in contributory pensions, while many states were burdened by pension backlogs estimated at over N105bn.