Akpabio Saga:Union Seeks Abrogation Of State Pension Laws

By Chuks Ehirim
Following the national outrage that greeted the recent enactment, by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, of a pension law in which former governors and their deputies are to pocket as much as N100 million, the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners[NUP], has called for the abrogation of such law anywhere it exists in the country.
The union said, in a press release signed by its National President, Dr A. O. Afolayan, that it does not only condemn the said law but calls for its abrogation from the State Pension Law. The release said the news of the pension law in Akwa Ibom State came to its member as a shocker.
“The news of the outrageous, obnoxious and scandalous jumbo pension pay, fashioned out by the Akwa Ibom State Government under the leadership of Governor, came as a bombshell that caught the anger of all and sundry, including the impoverished Nigeria Pensioners who are groaning daily to access their meager monthly pensions.”, the release said.
It added that “the Nigeria Union of Pensioners was shocked to the marrow on hearing that the Akwa Ibom State Government could enact a pension law that would benefit only the retired State Governors, their Deputies and cronies with little or no regard or consideration for the retired civil servants in his state who are earning just a pittance”, pointing out that “to us in the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, this is the height of insensitivity and executive callousness”.
Afolayan said that it is not only sad but regrettable that in a country where scores of pensioners across the states who had served the country with clean records cannot access their various forms of entitlements, ranging from short –payments, non- harmonization of their pensions, non- payment of gratuity and such other sundry benefits, ”the Governor sees nothing wrong with fashioning out such fabulous and mouth watering pension and gratuity in order to reward themselves to the disadvantage and neglect of the state pensioners”.
He condemned the current practice in Nigeria where political office holders design and pay themselves what he called “all manner of questionable allowances with impunity”, stating that this is in addition to the “unjustifiable envious fat salaries earmarked for them by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission”.
He said that his union is however consoled by the protest, reactions and public outcry that ”greeted the ill- conceived law” .He added “the Nigeria Union of Pensioners as a critical stakeholder, like other right thinking Nigerians and organizations not only condemn in its entirety, the obnoxious law but calls for its abrogation from the State Pension Law”.
The union also called on the Federal Government to implement, without further delay, the 33% pension increase, now that it has finally been captured in the 2014 budget. It pointed out that government officials had used the excuse that the said 33% increase was not tied to the budgetary allocations, to deny the payment. “Now that it has been captured in the budget and the budget has been passed and signed by the President, we call on the relevant authorities to issue the enabling circular for its implementation without further delay as pensioners have waited for too long”, it said.
The union also kicked against the contemplated removal of the National Minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list, to the concurrent list, stating that “this would spell doom for the state workers and a setback for labour movement”.
It commiserated with the Federal Government, Kano and Anambra States Governments over the deaths of late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Adobayero and former Minister of Information, Professor Dora Akunyili.