BEING THE TEXT OF A PRESS CONFERENCE ON THE PLANNED PROTEST ON THE PENSION CRISIS IN THE COUNTRY BY COMRADE PROMISE ADEWUSI, ACTING PRESIDENT, NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS.
….We find it necessary to address you today on the shameful and painful circumstances in which our retired workers who are pensioners have found themselves.
PREAMBLE
For quite some time now, the administration of pension funds has been enmeshed in unprecedented corruption with some public officers, institutions of government and banks generously helping themselves to the said funds, and in the process, deny pensioners their pension. This has thrown pensioners, majority of whom are our members into penury, with some dying in queues of protracted and unending verification exercises that yield little or no result.
More shocking is the undignified silence of the government, in spite of the shrill cries and agony of the victims and the criticism of concerned citizens. On its part, Congress had tried to intervene or mediate by writing several letters to the Presidency and reaching out to the government through other channels. Congress had also made public pronouncements on the pension saga (including paid advertisements) in the hope of getting the government to do something to ameliorate the trauma and sufferings of pensioners, all to no avail.
The government did not as much as acknowledge any of the letters, let alone respond to the issues Congress had publicly raised, lending credence to its indifference and complicity.
As a follow-up to the previous attempts to get the government to act, the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Congress at the end of its meeting on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, issued a Communiqué which not only outlined its frustration in getting government to do something g about the pitiful situation of pensioners in the country, it clearly stated that if by April 10, 2013, nothing was done, it would embark on a peaceful protest march to the Presidency and state government houses to sensitise the Presidency and Governors to the plight of pensioners.
It is amazing to know that government has not as much as shown any iota of concern or care, since the agitation of pensioners began, further underscoring its indifference to the plight of its senior citizens, and retired workers who had made incredible sacrifice to create the enormous wealth of this country that the ruling class and their unions are feeding fat on.
ISSUES
However, note that we have invited you here today not for lamentations but to re-state our resolve to embark on a peaceful protest on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, except if before then, government considers it worthwhile to address the gross criminalities and inequities in the pension fund administration in the country, particularly as they affect our members.
The issues in a nutshell are the non-payment of outstanding arrears to scores of pensioners, non-enrolment of thousands of pensioners on the federal pension payroll, non-payment of death benefits to the deserving next of kin.
Others, are the non-implementation of payments to pensioners to reflect the 53.4 per cent salary review and payment of pension in line with relevant increases in the Minimum Wage to N18,000, withholding of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) statutory check-off dues for over a year, and the slow place at which pension payment is being processed by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
PRAYERS
In view of the foregoing, we call for the:
- Immediate restoration of the withheld check-off dues to NUP;
- Accelerated payment of all arrears of pensions to the deserving pensioners;
- Re-visitation of the inconclusive verification exercises of 2010/2011 by the defunct PRTT, for the purpose of paying all outstanding pension arrears;
- Payment to pensioners appropriate pension to reflect the 53.4 per cent salary increase and payment of the 18,000N Minimum Wage in line with the provisions of Section 173(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended and the;
- Full implementation of the report of the Senate Joint Report on the pension scam.
Finally, we commend the leadership of the Senate for its thorough investigation of the criminalities in the pension fund administration and its courage for insisting that the PRTT be disbanded.
Never again, should the government create such a frankenstein monster. But above all this, we call on the government to stop treating its retirees with such contempt. They certainly deserve better than this after a life time of hard work and loyalty to the fatherland.
Thank you for coming.
Comrade Promise Adewusi mni
Acting President, Nigeria Labour Congress
