LASUED pensioners cry out to Sanwo-Olu over 31 months unpaid pension

‘Our members are going blind, dying needlessly’
Retired staff members of Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin Campus, under the umbrella of the LASUED Association of Pensioners, have called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to intervene in the non-payment of their 32-month pension arrears and alleviate the suffering of their members.

They claimed that many retirees are going blind, suffering excruciating pain, and dying unnecessarily due to the lack of financial support.

The association’s chairman, Henry Ogunsanya, who spoke to The Guardian about their plight, revealed that the last pension payment any of his members received was in May 2022.

He explained that the situation has impoverished many retirees, leaving them “starving, suffering from deteriorating health, and dying needlessly due to their inability to afford medication.” He also noted that a significant number of retirees have been evicted or are at risk of eviction due to their inability to pay rent.

The most heartbreaking case, he said, was that of a female member who recently went blind because she could not afford her medication.

“We have sent letters, and even met with officials of the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), who assured us they would engage the LASUED management to resolve the issue, but nothing has come of it. We also wrote to the Ministry of Tertiary Education and sent two letters to the governor, but still no action has been taken. Therefore, we are appealing once again to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to ensure the payment of the pension arrears, as the excuse from the LASUED management has been that the Lagos State Government has not released funds to them.”

Ogunsanya also highlighted that his members are entitled to a 72-month backlog of hazard and transport allowances, which the institution’s current staff are fighting for in the ongoing strike. The backlog, which covers January 2013 to December 2018, remains unpaid.

In response, LASUED Bursar Ganiu Ajose explained that the large backlog of unpaid pensions was due to LASUED not receiving funds from the Lagos State government. He added that once the funds are released, all outstanding pensions would be paid.

Ajose clarified that the institution was able to pay the pension for May 2022 using the monthly N5 million it sets aside for emergencies, after the bailout from the state government ran out in April 2022.

The association’s treasurer, Comrade A.O. Adigun, corroborated Ogunsanya’s account, stating that he retired on November 14, 2022, and has not received any pension payments since then. He noted that many retirees have fallen ill due to their inability to afford proper food and healthcare.

“If not for my children helping me, I would have been in terrible shape,” he said. “Even the tenants in my house, which I built, are not paying their rents, but I cannot just throw them out because of that. We went to Alausa and met with the permanent secretary, who organised a robust meeting with us and three other secretaries.

“We couldn’t meet with the commissioner because he was in a meeting. He expressed shock that we had not been paid for so long and vowed to pursue the issue to a logical conclusion. But since then, nothing has been done. We have also spoken with the commissioner for tertiary education, but there has been no progress.”

Adigun added, “Recently, we heard that the state government claimed they are not owing anyone. This might imply that the governor is unaware of our plight or that he is referring to the mainstream ministries. In fact, I suspect the governor might not know about our case.”

However, Ajose revealed that, despite the ongoing strike at the institution, the management had already made plans to settle the pensioners from June to December 2022, pending the state government’s bailout for 2023 and 2024.

Also, The Guardian learnt that there are plans to clear the pension backlogs, as they were inherited from the previous leadership of the institution.