Retirees under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) have taken their protest to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission’s office in Abuja to demand for a review of minimum pensions.
Their demand came few weeks after the federal government and organised labour concluded negotiation on adjustment of percentage increase on the new N30,000 national minimum wage.
NUP President, Abel Afolayan said the vast majority of pensioners depend on the token they receive for survival.
He noted that “with the workers, the tension has died down with the agreement reached and the percentage consequential adjustment increase, but with pensioners tension is high and if we don’t have anything tangible to present to them or tell them at our meeting next week in Ibadan, there will be problems.”
He lamented that a “vast majority of pensioners in this country earn below N10,000. It is people in this category that are agitating on what is happening to us.
“I don’t want a situation whereby they will say the national president is comfortable, the national deputy vice president is comfortable, the general secretary is comfortable, that is why they were not concerned about our problems. That is why we decided to come here.”
However, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission Acting Chairman, Ekpo Nta, has explained that government was already working on that.
“That one, I think it has been addressed because all along the negotiations it has always been in consideration, and it was asked at the Federal Executive Council (FEC), so everybody is aware that it must be done.
“Everybody is aware during negotiation on the minimum wage and its consequential adjustment that there must be corresponding increase for pensioners and we shouldn’t wait for agitation again before we do that,” Nta assured.
