Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abbas, has expressed concern over the paltry amount of N10,000 paid to some pensioners in the country.
Speaking when he received the leadership of the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) during a courtesy visit in his office at the National Assembly, yesterday, he noted that the country’s pension system was not working to support the retirees.

Expressing concern regarding the country’s pension scheme, the Speaker assured the NSCC of his readiness to work with the centre to improve the system.

Lamenting the challenges faced by the elderly and retirees, he said: “I can’t imagine a civil servant working for 35 years or after attaining 60 years, only to come back home and be receiving N10,000, N15,000, N20,000, or N30,000 for monthly upkeep as pension. It is so depressing, so disappointing, and I believe both of us can do so much in this area.”

Assuring them that the House would work towards increasing the NSCC yearly budget of N250 million, he said the House would work with the Committee on Disability Matters, chaired by Bashiru Dawodu, to ensure that the agency had at least one operational office in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.

Earlier, the Director-General of NSCC, Dr Emem Omokaro, said the visit was to intimate the Speaker of the centre’s operations and the challenges it had been facing, despite the overwhelming mandate that it had.