The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), South West Zonal Council has called on governors in the zone to address the issue of non-payment of gratuities and arrears of pensioners.
Public Relations Officer of the Pensioners in the Southwest, Dr. Olusegun Abatan, made the call at a news conference after the bi-monthly meeting of the union held in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital.
He said that pensioners had been subjected to untold hardship due to the irregularities in the payment of their benefits.
Dr. Abatan also said that many of the governors from the zone had failed to implement the constitutional provisions which stated that anytime there is increase in workers’ salaries, the pension should also be increased.
He said a circular backing the constitution from the federal government was given to the state governments in 2018, but no action had been taken on it since then.
His words, “As I speak with you, many of them have not implemented the thirty three point four percent pension increase that was done in 2010.
“Out of the six states, only Ondo and Lagos have implemented the the adjustment, the body language of the remaining states which include Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun have shown that they are not ready to do the needful”.
The image maker of the South West NUP said the union had given the concerned state governments till the end of October to address the issue of consequential adjustment of pension arrears”.
Dr. Abatan, however, threatened that failure of the Governors to implement the consequential adjustment, they would be taken to court for legal action.
