- The Federal Government has the responsibility of making adequate provision to pay pensioners
Each time the media, print and electronic, focus on the plight of senior citizens who retired from the public service and are subjected to harrowing experiences, it is usual for them to attract public sympathy, but, hardly government empathy. This is the situation again as members of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) and the Federal Public Service Contributory Pension Retirees (FPSCPR) have resorted to activism in their old age. Led by four retired directors, they first marched to the Federal Ministry of Finance where they deprecated the minister’s attitude in handling their case. The retirees pointed out that they had sent a letter explaining the sorry state of things since last October with no positive response. All they could elicit as on previous occasions was a promise to look into their case.
Then, they moved to the National Assembly where they met the leaders who equally promised to look into the case. However, quite uncharacteristically, the lawmakers of the two chambers were swift in acting on the issues raised. In the House of Representatives, Chairman of the Committee on Pensions, Shekarau Abubakar, moved a motion pointing out that unless the accumulated pension liabilities were cleared, a vulnerable group of Nigerians would be shut out of the much touted dividends of democracy.
Abubakar chided government for defaulting in paying pensioners under both the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) which was introduced to cure the maladies arising from the old scheme, and the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) it replaced. The lawmaker said the government liabilities under the new scheme amounted to N280 billion, while N174 billion was being owed under the old scheme.
Unfortunately, spin doctors went to work immediately. Rather than acknowledge the liability, they got the ministry to release N54 billion which they presented as up-to-date payment of outstanding federal pension liabilities. However, when the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, and her planning and budget counterpart, Udoma Udo Udoma, appeared before the House of Representatives, the truth emerged. Responding to questions, the ministers admitted that there was a huge backlog yet to be cleared.
President of the NUP, Dr. Abel Afolayan, said helpful as the released N54 billion was, it would not solve the problem which he attributed to insufficient appropriation. He submitted that the 2017 budget had not provided sufficient fund for payment of pensions in the two pension schemes. Painting a grim picture of the effect of the non-payment on members of the union, he said members were being owed N302.405 billion. The union attributed the shortfall and perpetual indebtedness to under-appropriation, explaining that the Executive only made provision for N109 billion, leaving a difference of N193 billion.
Reacting to the facts as presented, the ministers could only concur. Senator Udoma pleaded for understanding. He said: “In the 2017 budget, about half of our total projected revenues are for salaries and pensions, but the resources are not there.” Mrs. Adeosun, too, said: “The big issue is under-appropriation. I’m not sure it can be sorted out in one year, but it must be addressed.” In 2016, while the indebtedness under the CPS amounted to N91.9 billion, the Budget Office made provision for only N50.1 billion. By the end of the year, only N18.8 billion had been released. Nothing had changed even with the change of government.
We call on the government to do everything to address the predicament of the old men and women who had served the country with all their strength. It is interesting that the legislators, in this instance, have donned the toga of activists, enthusiastic to solve the problem. We find it difficult to appreciate why the federal executive could bail out states facing difficulties in paying salaries and pensions of workers and retirees but unable to do the same for those under its watch.
It is also ironic that a government determined to stamp out corruption does not see the link between the cankerworm and the plight of workers, whether in or out of service. Many are lured into making provisions at all cost for their future because they believe the system would forget them once out of service. This was the outcome of the unfeeling purge of the public service in 1975.
It is unacceptable that the attitude of successive governments is putting the Contributory Pension Scheme in the same bind that the old programme found itself. We call for immediate action, whether it would come in the form of adjustment of the budget before it is passed or by way of supplementary appropriation thereafter. The old men and women deserve to eat the fruit of their labour. Government is in place to wipe, not induce tears. We agree with the Speaker that “Nigeria has failed pensioners.” The error must be corrected now.
