By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
RETIRED Prison officers from Edo State under the aegis of Association of Retired Prisons Officers have accused Pension Funds Administrators, PFAs, of unethical practices and sought to pull out Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.

The retired Prisons Pensioners in a letter through their counsel Mr. Olayiwola Afolabi and addressed to both the Senate President, Senator David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal and the Director – General of the National Pension Commission, PenCom, cited perceived gross irregularities, financial improprieties and attempts to shortchange them of their retirement benefits by PFAs.

According to the petition; “We were informed by our client that some time in year 2004, the Federal government decided to introduce the Contributory Pension Scheme, to help retirees in Federal Government Service collect their retirement benefits without any stress and retiree gratefully.

The pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, also told our clients that one of the benefits of the contributory pension is that at retirement some of them who are not house owners will build their own houses with the money accruing to them from the contributory pension.

Our clients have high hopes that their lives will turn around for good at retirement. Little did our clients know that it was a scam and a mirage”

They added that contrary to the rosy life after pension promised to them by PFAs shifted the goal posts and were now singing different tones as none of them invited for negotiations as promised.

noting that the next thing they heard was bank alerts informing them that certain amounts have been credited to their accounts.

“Nobody is ready to tell our clients how PFAs arrived at their figures and why a little part of it was paid to our clients as the lump sum of money credited to their accounts is only ¼ of the total entitlements as calculated by them and which will pay only house rent for some them living in government quarters to rent an apartment.

With this arrangement by they are only trying to facilitate the death of our clients s it is practically impossible for them to survive with the arrangement.”

“In this circumstances, w humbly request that you use your good offices and position to make sure that Prisons staff in the services of the Federal government pull out from contributory pension scheme just like the Army, Police etc have pulled out.

Our clients’ earnest desire and expectation is that your office will deliver them from the hands of PFAs so that they will live to enjoy their retirement benefits. It is our clients’ believe that with you, this will be achieved in the shortest possible time to boost the morale of serving prisons officers and restore the hope of the retired ones.”