Pensioners in the South-West Zone of the country have accused the governors of abandoning them to die prematurely and miserably, also of their insensitive attitude towards the pensioners.
Speaking through the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, South-West zone, the Chairman Waheed Oloyede lament about the backlog of unpaid pensions and gratuities by governors in the South-west, saying most state governors have no regard for pensioners.
He also called on the governors to increase pensions in their respective states, noting that “some pensioners are still receiving as low as N5,000, monthly, adding that “The consequential increase in pension that was approved by the Federal Government in 2019 was not implemented in many states.
Nigerian constitution provides an increase in pension every five years and whenever salaries of workers are increased, that of pensioners should also be increased. We have discovered that only the Federal Government is fulfilling the promise, but the states are not.
“Pensioners are dying almost every week. Many of us use the little money we are paid to buy medicines and when the money is not forth coming, we cannot get them and that means we cannot live long.
“This is why we are pleading with government to listen to the plights of pensioners and ensure we are paid what we should be paid as and when due. The problems of pensioners are almost the same in all the states of the federation and most of the state governors have no regard for pensioners.”
