More that 2,000 retirees of the Federal Government-owned Inland Steel Rolling Mills comprising of Osogbo, Katsina and Jos Rolling Mills have appealed to the Federal government to settle the 36 months arrears of their outstanding pension.
According to a statement jointly signed by Chairman and Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (Osogbo Steel Sectoral Group) Comrade Rotimi Aiyedun and Alhaji Fatai Oladepo, the pension arrears covered the period between January 2011and December 2013.
The retirees also appealed to government for the immediate settlement of pension of their late members whose next of kins (NOKs) have completed and submitted relevant documents to the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) since November 2016.
They lamented that the nonpayment of the pension arrears had caused untold hardship to many of them and that some have died because of lack of money to buy necessary drugs for their healthcare and take care of themselves.
"Some of the Next of kins of many of our members (NOKs) obtained loans to process their letters of Administration through Lawyers and their transportation with accommodation in Abuja for the verification in November 2016 with the hope of getting the pay in a short while.
"We also wish to recall that after the nationwide biometric verification of 2016 and 2017 of all Federal pensioners, we all believed that payment would come shortly as promised by the Executive Secretary of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD).
"This prompted some of our members to obtain loans from different sources to settle their critical needs including rents and school fees," lamenting that by now the accrued interest have almost consumed their anticipated arrears,” they said.
The union lamented that more than 50 of it members across the three Inland Steel Rolling Mills had died in the last two years as a result of inadequate medical care due to lack of funds while some of the children of the deceased had since dropped out of school due to lack of funds to continue with their education.
The pensioners commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for regular payment of pension through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) since he assumed office.
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