—Tell FG to stop treating retirees like spare tyres

–As NUP, FCSPB clash at World Pensioners Day

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA—SENIOR Ctizens under the aegis of Nigerian Union of Pensioners, NUP, .have lamented that one of the greatest challenge they face in collecting their entitlement was that many state governors have become emperors in their various states, governing with iron hands.

The pensioners have also frowned at the way governments at all levels handle their affairs and called on both the federal and state governments to treat them with respect.

They also asked all the three tiers of government to formulate policies that would address challenges against them, saying national assembly should include a punishment in the constitution which will compel State governors to pay pensions as at when due.

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This is as the Federal Civil Service Pensioners Branch, FCSPB, has appealed to the federal government to stop paying its entitlements through the NUP, saying it was being heavily shortchanged by the latter.

FCSPB also called on the government to immediately review pension, regretting that the government had unconstitutionally delayed the review which ought to have been effected in 2015 and 2020 respectively.

The NUP and FCSPB spoke, weekend in Abuja at the occasion of World Pensioners Day celebration 2021.

There was a mild drama during the celebration where some retirees who are members of FCSP attempted to disrupt the gathering.

The rowdy session nearly stalled the programme for about five minutes before the intervention of the spokesman of NUP, Bunmi Ogunkolade, who appealed to the aggrieved retirees not to destabilise the programme.

The FCSPB said contrary to the NUP constitutional provision which required that it should be given 55 percent checkup dues, take 35 percent and give Nigeria Labour Congress 10 percent,the NUP was grossly violating it.

It tasked the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment which it noted,was conciliating in the matter to direct the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, PETAD, to pay its entitlements direct to its purse like it was doing to other unions under NUP.

Chairman of FCSPB, Comrade Omezi Sunday,who spoke to reporters on the sideline of commemoration of World Pensioners Day 2021, said its consistent efforts to correct NUP made the latter to dissolve the National Executive Council of FCSPB and setting up what what he described as “illegal caretaker committee.”

According to him, “The federal government should be able to obey the constitutional provision and review our pension.”

The FCSPB chairman tasked pensioners in the country to unite so as to tackle the government over alleged neglect of their entitlements.

“Our wish for the Pensioners Day is that we pensioners should unite,we have one common enemy which is the federal government that has not been giving us our entitlements. We are supposed to collect our review in 2015 and 2020 but we don’t know what they are doing,” he said.

He called on the government to resolve FCSPB’s issue with NUP so that the former can start collecting its entitlements direct from PETAD just like other NUP affiliate bodies.

“We have issue with check-up dues because NUP is shortchanging us by not giving us our rightful entitlements. This,we have long reported to our regulatory body,being the Federal Ministry of Labour.

NUP is not going through their constitution. The operations of NUP are contrary to the constitution and we dragged them before the Federal Ministry of Labour

“They are supposed to remit 55 percent of the check-up due to us,take 35 percent and give Nigeria Labour Congress 10 percent which is altogether 100 percent.

“The NUP collects our money directly from PETAD and then give us whatever they like and our complaints to PETAD to stop this has not yielded positive result as PETAD said it doesn’t want to dabble into labour issue, saying it is the duty of the Federal Ministry of Labour to resolve our problem and the ministry is still conciliating.

 “It directed us to go back and settle ourselves as according to it,it’s an internal issue adding that if we can’t do that,we should come back.

“We held a meeting with the ministry on the 22nd of November and the meeting ended up in deadlock,so we have reported back to the ministry, waiting for its action.

“We want the ministry to refer us to Industrial Arbitration Panel if they cannot solve the problem. If the Federal Ministry of Labour feels that we cannot work in harmony with the NUP,then they should refer us because we have all it takes to pull out,we are a federal union,” he said.

Sunday alleged that NUP released over N17 million from FCSPB’s account to the caretaker committee it set up within the three months it lasted.

“The NUP at a point dissolved National Executive Council of our union and set up an illegal caretaker committee. That caretaker committee was not supposed to exist at all in the first place. We had issue with the NUP and because of the issue,the NUP dissolved us. We took this before the ministry and the NUP was forced to reinstate us but unfortunately,  the NUP is still dealing with the caretaker committee.

“For three months that the NUP dissolved us,it gave over N17 million to the caretaker committee. The money released to the caretaker committee for the three months the illegal dissolution lasted,they have refused to return it to us till today,” he alleged.

Holding its first National Executive Council, NEC, meeting after three years of its inauguration on July 18, 2018, Sunday, regretted that funding was hindering the smooth operations of the union.

He hinted that the union went through turbulent period because of  its efforts to call NUP to order over some alleged illegal acts.

“It with also be of interest to intimate you that it was a result of our effort to ask for our right from the NUP that led to the dissolution of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our our branch, and setting up of an illegal committee.

” Let it be noted that the action of the NUP was meant to destroy the entire union, and render it ineffective, to enable the national secretariat of the union to continue to misappropriate our funds.

“However, the NEC of FCSPB fought back to render the dissolution equally ineffective, through the cooperation of all of you,” he said.

In his address at the World Pensioners Day, celebration, the National President of NUP, Godwin Abumisi, urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to relent in making issues of gratuity and other entitlements a priority.

He said, ”Never will it be said again that Nigerian pensioners are spare tyres and they are old enough to die. We shall take our pride of place in this country, and stand firmly to claim our rights from the government of this nation that we have used our youthful strength to serve. Together in unity, we shall achieve our aims,” he said.

The union leader, who also berated the State governors whom he described as ”emperors”, noting that they have made lives unbearable for citizens.

He said, ”Our major challenges have been with the State Governments, many of whom have become emperors in their various States. They govern with iron hands in a democratic settings as ours.

”Many of them collapsed governance instruments together under their palm as the-one-man all-powerful governor is the judiciary, the legislature and the executive put together.

”I wish to place on records that the payment of monthly pension to the pensioners is a right not a privilege. Unfortunately, the constitution does not prescribe any punishment for such erring governors who trained the pensioners with disdain.”