Ekiti retirees slam Fayose for stopping pension increment

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) in Ekiti State has berated former Governor Ayodele Fayose for allegedly stopping the increment of their pension approved during the first tenure of Governor Kayode Fayemi.

The State NUP Chairman Ayo Kumapayi spoke yesterday during the celebration of this year’s National Pensioners’ Day in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

The event was attended by Deputy Governor Bisi Egbeyemi, who assured pensioners of a better welfare package in the new Fayemi administration.

Egbeyemi said the governor was deeply concerned about the hardship among pensioners and would make life easier for them.

But Kumapayi, who appealed for the restoration of the increment, complained that the outstanding gratuities debt had increased from N1.587 billion to N20 billion in the last four years.

The Ekiti NUP chairman claimed that the Fayose administration failed to harmonise pensions as and when due in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in Section 173(3), 210(3), which holds that pension shall be reviewed every five years.

Presenting a list of demands to the deputy governor, Kumapayi urged the government to restore the increment stopped by Fayose within the first 100 days of the Fayemi administration.

He urged the government to address the anomalies in pensioners’ welfare and ensure improvement.

Egbeyemi promised that the government would pay the pensioners alongside other workers’ salaries to ensure that no arrears of monthly pensions are unpaid.

The deputy governor decried a situation in which pensioners are feeding their jobless children, who are graduates, and their wives, while their only source of income, the pension, is not forthcoming.

He said such a scenario is unacceptable.

Egbeyemi described public officers stealing pension funds as ‘murderers’, adding that “pensioners ought to be paid their gratuities within two months of retirement, as obtainable in advanced countries”.

He urged the pensioners to vote massively for President Muhammadu Buhari and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the 2019 general elections for Ekiti to enjoy more goodies from the Federal Government.