Pensioners demand bailout from FG

By ABDUL-KHALIQ OLALEKAN

Pensioners across the country, under the auspices of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), are demanding for bailout from the Federal Government in a bid to clear their pension areas.

They are requesting for a resemblance of bailout given to some states incapacitated to pay their workers’ salaries, to be able to pay.

Speaking on the issue in Lagos, Lagos State Chairman of NUP, Mr. Joseph Dele, charged the governments to urgently look into the plights of pensioners, who are currently undergoing tough times due to the present financial crisis in the country.

According to the National Pension Commission (PenCom), from 2014 to date, there has been a decline in budgetary provision in funding the Retirement Benefit Bonds Redemption Fund (RBBF) account and the remittance of monthly contribution, adding that sum of N20.07 billion is required to pay all outstanding accrued benefits for deceased and mandatory retirees of the Federal Government for the periods October to December 2015.

The commission added that the sum of N79.16 billion has been computed as the arrears of 15 per cent pension increase owed to 79,961 Federal Government retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as at December, 2014.

PenCom also noted that N50.20 billion was provided for the 2016 FGN Budgetary Appropriation for the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund (RBBRF) account presented to the National Assembly, compared to the Commission’s projection of N91.91 billion, resulting in a shortfall of N41.71 billion.

The commission maintained that the Federal Government was also yet to commence the implementation of the revised 18 per cent minimum pension contributions for its employees as stipulated under Section 4 of the PRA 2014.