Retirees urge FG to address delays in pension payment

Retirees in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States have urged the Federal Government to address and remove all the bottlenecks delaying payment of pensions to retired civil servants in the country.

They made the call separately in a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey on ways of improving pension payments.

NAN reports that in 2004, the Federal Government of Nigeria enacted the Pensions Reform Act (PRA 2004) which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The act made it mandatory for employers and employees in both the public and private sectors to contribute towards the retirement benefits of employees.

The pension administration in Nigeria had since then, faced with inadequate funding, poor management, low coverage, lack of awareness, and weak regulatory framework.

Most of the retirees who spoke to NAN in separate interviews said in spite of their pension contributions, they were unable to access their pension two years after retirement while some were paid 50 per cent and 25 per cent lump sum after many years of retirement.

A retiree, Mr Julius Okafor, told NAN that he retired since 2022 and was yet to be paid his gratuity and monthly pension, saying he had been living from hand to mouth.

Okafor lamented that after serving his country for 35 years, he was yet to receive his pensions and appealed to the Federal Government to remove all the bottleneck for the payment of pension in the country.

“I have submitted all the necessary documents but my pension administrator is yet pay me.

“My friends and relatives had been the ones supporting me and it is painful that senor citizens like us are treated like this,” he lamented.

Another retiree, Mr Emmanuel Nwaiwu, while narrating his difficulty since he retired in 2024, advised the Federal Government to put in place a system where every civil servant would be paid their lump sum once they retired and subsequently their monthly pension.

According to him, it becomes a problem when someone that retired will have to wait for years before he is being paid and the more they are delaying it, the more other workers are retiring, making it cumbersome.

The Zonal Coordinator, Leadway Pension Administrator, Dr Arinze Udechukwu, blamed the delay on remittance of pension funds by the government to pension administrators.

He explained that with the new Pension Act, when a civil servant retired, his pension would be divided into two of 25 per cent or 50 per cent as lump sum while the other one would be spread as pensionable salary.

Udechukwu, however, advised civil servants to join pension organisation that could direct and give them opportunity to save, invest as well as information they needed from their pension accounts.

The zonal coordinator, urged retirees to learn a vocation while working, as it would be difficult to learn it after retirement.

“Civil Servants need to save money to invest as the salary is not enough. They need to set aside something from their salary. This is what is called financial disciplined to enable them grab an opportunity to make a profitable investment.

“If they begin now, before retirement they will master the vocation as it is the only thing that will sustain them after exit from active service,” he said.

In Ebonyi, some stakeholders in Abakaliki, have called for the need to overhaul the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to effectively improve the contributory scheme and overcome delay payments of benefits to retirees in the country.

Dr Mathew Odono, Retired Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Ebonyi Office, said that the situation of getting the payment was worrisome.

Odono, who retired on March 2024, said he was yet to get either the gratuity or the monthly pension.

“It’s a worrisome situation, I retired in March 2024 and as I am talking to you, I have never gotten a kobo. We applied at the period of retirement but up till today, we are yet to get something.

“The federal government should look into this issue and overhaul the whole processes, especially the PENCOM in order to save the retirees,” the former Director said.

Mrs Happiness Okonkwo, a Legal Practitioner supported the call for overhauling the pension commission and urged for the review of the Pension Reform Act, 2024 for the future of the civil servants.

Okonkwo decried the situation, saying that it was wrong to hoard someone savings after the 35 years meritorious service.

“In the case of Ebonyi state, the Governor, Francis Nwifuru is up and doing. He has cleared all the outstanding pensions and gratuity of the retirees in the state civil service.

“When the Governor came on board, he took it as one of his priorities and the retirees are happy today.

NAN recalls that the governor had on May, 2024, cleared the gratuities of the retired workers in the state from 1996 to 2023.

Mr Jude Okpor, State Commissioner for Information and State Orientation noted that Nwifuru’s led administration was committed to the payment of retirees pensions.

“The governor paid a total Gratuity of over N5 billion from 1996 to 2023.

“It is clear than ever that Nwifuru, the most humane and workers’ friendly Governor of Ebonyi State, does not only make promises but keeps to the last letters of his promise,” he added.

Charlie Okoro, a civil servant said the state government had taken upon the payment at ensuring that the retirees gets their pensions as and when due.

“The retirees in the state are no more having the difficulties. We have a Governor, who cares for his people,” he said.

Prof Demian Opata, a Professor Emeritus, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), said he received his first monthly pension from his Pension Fund Administrator, 13 months after his retirement.

Opata, a Professor of English and Literary Studies who retired in 2021 from the UNN, explained that when he retired, he filled series of forms and went through documentation process as directed by by his pension administrator.

He said that after 13 months he was paid the first pension benefits and since then it had been regular at every month end.

“You are the one to choose the percentage of your monthly pension payment between 25 per cent and 50 per cent,” he said.

The Emeritus Professor said he preferred the pension money spread over the years to the whole money being paid once.

“If the whole money is paid to you at once and you misuse the money what are you going do since you are no longer working to get salary.

“Since “one man’s meat is another man’s poison” , retirees should be allowed to choose whether he/she wants it once or spread over the years,” he said.

Opata urged government to intervene to ensure that period of receiving the first pension payment did not exceed six months from the day of retirement.

“It will be good if six months is the maximum a retiree will wait to receive the first monthly pension.

“Some retirees are not strong to do another work after retirement, allowing the first pension benefits to stretch one to two years amount to inflicting hardship and suffering on retirees,” Opata said.

Contributing, Mr Julius Ezema, a Lawyer and Right Activist, urged government to direct all pension fund administrators to start working out the pension benefits of civil servants starting from six months to his/her retirement date.

“This will make it possible for everything in terms of gratuity and pension benefits to be ready immediately the person retires.

“This will prevent the ugly situation of some retirees who die on the process of waiting so long to receive their pensions.

“We should remember that these retirees spent their youthful years to serve their fatherland and it will be unfair to pay them with death, hardship or suffering after their retirement.

The activist also urged civil servants still in active service in the country to give maximum support in ensuring that retirees were treated with deserved care and diginty knowing very well that one day they would also retire from service.

Pensioners in Anambra have also called on Pension Commission to be on their toes in solving the respective retirement emoluments of retirees that besieged their offices nationwide for quick collection of their entitlements.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka, they called on administrators to be ICT compliant.

Mr Izunna Mbadiwe, a retired civil servant urged the Commission to do more.

“We are still experiencing analogue documented procedure, thereby making us carry out files to verification exercise.

“In the process, some retirees lose their documents; we should have grown past this stage for this is my third year and yet to collect all my entitlement,” he said.

Mrs ijeoma Ezeokoye, a retired teacher, on her part called on intensive training for Pencom staff to boost productivity.

“Only if the Federal Government will attach importance to training of PenCom workers on how developed nations does it right as many retirees are dying on daily basis without getting their money,” she said.

Mr Kelechi Onyeka, a lawyer, said that doing away with the cause of the bottleneck would improve the situation.

“There are avenues retirees can pursue their cases in court or ombudsman but the process is cumbersome.

“I have always advised clients that want to pursue such matters to remain calm and pray for better policies to be introduced that will eradicate all the elements that cause hindrances,” he said.

NAN reports that at Pencom state office in Awka, a staff that simply want to be identified as Mr Nnamdi, said all inquires concerning their operations cannot be from state office.

“There is nothing anyone will tell you from the state office that is valid.

“All information concerning our work output can only be received from our headquarters at Abuja for all I can tell you for sure is that we are improving on our services to our retired aged ones,” he said.