Retirees in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States have urged the federal government to address and remove all the bottlenecks delaying the payment of pensions to retired civil servants.
They made the call separately in a News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, survey on ways of improving pension payments.
NAN reports that in 2004, the federal government enacted the Pensions Reform Act (PRA 2004) which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.
The act made it mandatory for employers and employees in the public and private sectors to contribute towards the retirement benefits of employees.
Pension administration in Nigeria had since then, been faced with inadequate funding, poor management, low coverage, lack of awareness and weak regulatory framework.
Most of the retirees who spoke to NAN in separate interviews said in spite of their pension contributions, they were unable to access their pension two years after retirement, while some were paid 50 percent and 25 percent lump sum after many years of retirement.
A retiree, Mr Julius Okafor, told NAN that he retired since 2022 and was yet to be paid his gratuity and monthly pension, saying he had been living from hand to mouth.
Okafor lamented that after serving his country for 35 years, he was yet to receive his pensions and appealed to the federal government to remove all the bottlenecks for the payment of pension in the country.
“I have submitted the necessary documents but my pension administrator is yet to pay me.
“My friends and relatives had been the ones supporting me and it is painful that senor citizens like us are treated like this,” he lamented.
Another retiree, Mr Emmanuel Nwaiwu, while narrating his difficulty since he retired in 2024, advised the federal government to put in place a system where every civil servant would be paid their lump sum once they retire and subsequently their monthly pension.
According to him, it becomes a problem when someone that retired will have to wait for years before he is paid and the more they are delaying it, the more other workers are retiring, making it cumbersome.
The Zonal Coordinator, Leadway Pension Administrator, Dr Arinze Udechukwu, blamed the delay on the remittance of pension funds by government to pension administrators.
He explained that with the new Pension Act, when a civil servant retires, his pension would be divided into two of 25 percent or 50 percent as lump sum, while the other one would be spread as pensionable salary.
Udechukwu, however, advised civil servants to join pension organisations that could direct and give them the opportunity to save, invest, as well as information they need from their pension accounts.
The zonal coordinator urged retirees to learn a vocation while working, as it would be difficult to learn it after retirement.
“Civil servants need to save money to invest as the salary is not enough. They need to set aside something from their salary. This is what is called financial discipline, to enable them grab an opportunity to make profitable investment.
“If they begin now, before retirement they will master the vocation, as it is the only thing that will sustain them after exit from active service,” he said.
In Ebonyi, some stakeholders have called for the overhauling of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, to effectively improve the contributory scheme and overcome delay payment of benefits to retirees in the country.
Retired Director, National Orientation Agency, NOA, Ebonyi Office, Dr Mathew Odono, said the situation of getting the payment is worrisome.
Odono, who retired on March, said he is yet to get either the gratuity or the monthly pension.
“It is a worrisome situation, I retired in March and as I am talking to you, I have never gotten a kobo. We applied at the period of retirement, but up till today, we are yet to get something.
“The federal government should look into this issue and overhaul the whole process, especially PENCOM in order to save retirees,” the former director said.
Mrs Happiness Okonkwo, a legal practitioner supported the call for overhauling the pension commission and urged for the review of the Pension Reform Act, 2024 for the future of civil servants.
Okonkwo decried the situation, saying it was wrong to hoard someone’s savings after 35 years meritorious service.
“In the case of Ebonyi State, Governor Francis Nwifuru is up and doing. He has cleared all the outstanding pensions and gratuity.
“When he came on board, he took it as one of his priorities and the retirees are happy today.
NAN recalls that the governor had in May, cleared the gratuities of retired workers from 1996 to 2023.
The Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Mr Jude Okpor noted that Nwifuru’s administration is committed to the payment of pensions.
“The governor paid gratuity of over N5 billion from 1996 to 2023.
“It is clear that Nwifuru, the most humane and worker friendly Governor of Ebonyi State, does not only make promises, but keeps to the last letters of his promise,” he added.
Charlie Okoro, a civil servant, said the state government had ensured that retirees get their pensions as and when due.
“Retirees are no more having difficulties. We have a governor who cares for his people,” he said.
Professor Emeritus, University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, Professor Demian Opata, said he received his first monthly pension from his Pension Fund Administrator, 13 months after his retirement.
Opata, a Professor of English and Literary Studies who retired in 2021 from UNN, explained that when he retired, he filled a series of forms and went through documentation process as directed by his pension administrator.
He added that after 13 months, he was paid the first pension benefits and since then it had been regular every month end.
“You are the one to choose the percentage of your monthly pension payment between 25 and 50 percent,” he said.
The emeritus professor said he preferred the pension money spread over the years to the whole money being paid once.
“If the whole money is paid to you at once and you misuse it, what are you going do since you are no longer working to get salary.
“Since “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”, retirees should be allowed to choose whether he/she wants it once or spread over the years,” he said.
Opata urged government to intervene to ensure that the period of receiving the first pension payment does not exceed six months from the day of retirement.
“It will be good if six months is the maximum a retiree will wait to receive the first monthly pension.
“Some retirees are not strong to do another work after retirement, allowing the first pension benefits to stretch one to two years amounts to inflicting hardship and suffering on retirees,” Opata said.
Contributing, Mr Julius Ezema, a Lawyer and Rights Activist, urged government to direct all pension fund administrators to start working out the pension benefits of civil servants starting from six months to his/her retirement date.
“This will make it possible for everything in terms of gratuity and pension benefits to be ready immediately the person retires.
“This will prevent the ugly situation of some retirees who die in the process of waiting so long to receive their pensions.
“We should remember that these retirees spent their youthful years serving their fatherland and it will be unfair to pay them with death, hardship or suffering after their retirement.”
The activist also urged civil servants still in active service to give maximum support in ensuring that retirees are treated with the deserved care and diginty knowing very well that one day they would also retire from service.
Pensioners in Anambra State have also called on Pension Commission to be on their toes in solving the respective emoluments of retirees who besiege their offices nationwide for quick collection of their entitlements.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka, they called on administrators to be ICT compliant.
Mr Izunna Mbadiwe, a retired civil servant, urged the commission to do more.
“We are still experiencing analogue documented procedure, thereby making us carry files to verification exercises.
“In the process, some retirees lose their documents; we should have grown past this stage, this is my third year and yet to collect all my entitlements,” he said.
Mrs Ijeoma Ezeokoye, a retired teacher, called for intensive training for PenCom staff to boost productivity.
“Only if the federal government will attach importance to the training of PenCom workers, as many retirees are dying on a daily basis without getting their money,” she said.
Mr Kelechi Onyeka, a lawyer, said doing away with the cause of the bottlenecks would improve the situation.
“There are avenues, retirees can pursue their cases in court or ombudsman, but the process is cumbersome.
“I always advise clients that want to pursue such matters to remain calm and pray for better policies to be introduced that will eradicate all the elements that cause hindrances,” he said.
NAN reports that at the PenCom state office in Awka, a staff that simply wants to be identified as Mr Nnamdi, said all inquires concerning their operations cannot be from the state office.
“There is nothing anyone will tell you from the state office that is valid.
“All information concerning our work output can only be received from our headquarters at Abuja. All I can tell you for sure is that we are improving on our services,” he said. (NAN)
