The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ogun State Council, has urged the organised labour not to accept the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as it suspends its eight-day-old strike.

The pensioners said that enforcing CPS would plunge retirees, many of whom have served the state for over 35 years, into lifelong poverty. The organised labour in Ogun State, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and Joint Negotiation Committee (JNC), had embarked on an indefinite strike to protest the non-remittance of CPS contributions, unpaid promotion arrears, leave allowances, pension deductions, and non-implementation of the N77,000 minimum wage, among other grievances.

Governor Dapo Abiodun, during a meeting with the labour leaders at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, announced plans to begin full implementation of the CPS by July 2025. However, labour leaders rejected the move.

Although the strike was suspended, reportedly due to the intervention of traditional rulers and concerns about the security of the working environment, the CPS issue was not listed among the resolved matters.

In an exclusive interview, NUP State Secretary, Bola Lawal, warned that implementing the scheme, without addressing its flaws, would further impoverish retirees.

Lawal noted that the state owed over N82 billion as unpaid CPS remittances from previous administrations, stressing that no government should resume implementation without settling the backlog.

“Inasmuch as we support the suspension of the strike, we maintain that the contributory pension scheme should be scrapped. “The current administration has been deducting workers’ contributions without remitting them to the appropriate pension administrators, leading to a backlog now estimated at N82 billion. Governor Abiodun cannot begin implementation without first clearing these arrears,” Lawal stated.

Lawal recalled that the CPS, introduced under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, was meant to ensure sustainability of pension payments as liabilities grew but in Ogun State, it has been mishandled from inception.

“Former Governor Gbenga Daniel started the deductions but didn’t remit them. His successor, Ibikunle Amosun, suspended the CPS but continued deductions without remittance. Now, Governor Abiodun wants to begin implementation again without addressing the past lapses. This is unacceptable,” he added.