Pensioners in Plateau State, rallying under the state branch of Pensioners Union of Nigeria (NUP), staged a demonstration on Monday in Jos the State Capital, for an upward review of their current N5,140
monthly pension to a “more humane” sum.

They also expressed the regret that even the N5,140 monthly pension had not been paid in the last six months and that as much as N4 billion gratuity was being owed them by the state government.

Pensioners in Plateau State, rallying under the state branch of Pensioners Union of Nigeria (NUP), staged a demonstration on Monday in Jos the State Capital, for an upward review of their current N5,140
monthly pension to a “more humane” sum.

They also expressed the regret that even the N5,140 monthly pension had not been paid in the last six months and that as much as N4 billion gratuity was being owed them by the state government.

In the course of the demonstration which took a procession of the pensioners from the Plateau State Pensions Board in Bank Road across the GRA to the Joseph Gomwalk Secretariat, the pensioners held
placards reading variously, “The aged are suffering, treat them with kindness”; “We can’t pay our children’s school fees”; “Many have died. Many more are dying. Pay our pension”; among others.

The Union’s executives who held a meeting in Jos last week, arrived at a decision to stage the protest rally yesterday and then Thursday, February 12, and for the demonstration rallies to continue every Monday and Thursday of every week till the state government responds to their cries, according to Chairman of the Union, Chief Sunday Jimoh Danladi who affirmed in an interview with journalist that the Government had not been regular in paying even the current N5,140 monthly pension.

“The government of Plateau State is not taking care of pensioners at all. We have for months been writing letters on harmonization, review of pension and so on, but to no avail. We did Christmas without arrears and up to now, there is no monthly pension, and our members are dying. We’ve been petting our members and now our backs are to the wall. We held a congress meeting last Week and got approval for a peaceful demonstration starting on Monday the 9th of February 2015, to show our grievances against the government.

Danladi recalled that the Plateau State Government last reviewed minimum monthly pension from N2,000 to N5,140 roughly 10 years ago, when Chief Joshua Dariye was the governor, and that this is what the
pension had been since, against the position of the law that pension should be reviewed every five years or every time there is a review of salaries of workers, depending on which comes first.

Comparing the Plateau situation to that of neighbouring Bauchi State, Danladi said, “At the time we were receiving N2,000 Bauchi was N3,000 but today, Bauchi pensioners receive N12,780 minimum monthly pension while we are still on N5,140 which is not even paid when it falls due.
It’s now six months that we’ve been paid pension, and some people are owed arrears that go back a lot longer than six months.

He said that unpaid gratuity to members of the pensioners union had accumulated into about N4 billion, and that some workers of the state government would retire and remain up to two years in retirement
without a commencement of pension payment to them.

“There are lots of demand on the state government and the government is not responding,” he stressed.

count | 58

Pensioners in Plateau Demonstrate Against low and Irregular Payment