Labour threatens to protest against pensions fraud April 10

PIQUED by alleged government’s unwillingness to prosecute public officials who have been indicted for the mismanagement of pensions funds, the labour movement has scheduled a nationwide protest. The Acting President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Promise Adewusi, who revealed this in Abuja Thursday, said the action, slated for April 10, was informed by government’s inertia on bringing those that have been indicted for the mismanagement of pensions funds.
Adewusi, who lauded the efforts of both the Senate and House of Representatives, lamented that the huge scams unearthed by the legislators, and laudable steps taken have not been complemented by the Federal Government, which has done little to stop the rot in the management of pensions funds in the country.
He, therefore, submitted that as labour bodies that are responsible and responsive to the plight of its affiliates such as the National Union of Pensioners (NUP), both the NLC and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, could no longer sit by and watch those who invested their youth in the service of their nation die prematurely as a result of inconsistencies in the payment of their pensions allowances.
According to the Acting President, workers in Lagos and Abuja are therefore expected to stay away from work on April 10 and instead meet at designated areas for the protest march. He added that the protest would be organised simultaneously across all the states of the federation.
However, the planned protest march may not go on if, “before then, government considers it worthwhile to address the gross criminalities and inequities in the pensions funds administration in the country, particularly as they affect our members.”
He went further to list the non-payment of outstanding arrears to scores of pensioners, non-enrolment of thousands of pensioners on the federal pensions payroll, non-payment of death benefits to the deserving next of kin, as contentious issues that must be addressed by government urgently.
He added: “Other issues include the non-implementation of payments to pensioners to reflect the 53.4 per cent salary review and payment of pension in line with relevant increases in the minimum wage to N18,000, withholding of Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) statutory check-off dues for over a year, and the slow pace at which pensions payment is being processed by the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.”
The NLC also asked for the accelerated payment of pension to deserving pensioners; re-visitation of the inconclusive verification of 2010/2011 by the defunct Pension Reform Task Force (PRTT) for the purpose of paying all outstanding pension arrears; payment to pensioners appropriate pension to reflect the 53.4 per cent salary increase and payment of the N18,000 minimum wage in line with the provision of Section 173 93) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and the full implementation of the report of the Senate Joint Report on pension scam.
Also speaking on the perceived endorsement granted to the sacked PRTT headed by Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, the National President of NUP, Ali Abatcha, said the union never supported the work of the sacked task force saying the decision of the union was informed by the outcry of its members against ill-treatment by the task force.