VON pensioners task CBN, PTAD over unpaid benefits

Pensioners under the Voice of Nigeria Pensioners Association (VONPA), have called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to effect payment of their outstanding benefits.

The senior citizens, who spoke through their chairman, Comrade Sylvester Okafor, regretted that while payment has been made for January 2016, December 2015 has curiously been skipped, even as February 2016 remains outstanding.

“Many of our members are dying of illnesses and need urgent attention,” said Okafor, adding: “We are appealing to CBN to save us from untimely death. We are also urging the Federal Government to look into the matter and save us from this terrible experience.”

Down with stroke, one of the affected pensioners, Mr. Anyiam Pius, who spoke to The Guardian, described the non-payment as ‘a disaster.’ Another, Alhaji Dada Sikiru Ishola, whose wife is suffering from stroke, decried the lack of food and basic needs, even as Deacon John Oyeleke Dada questioned why, after serving the government for decades, the pensioners should be left to starve.