Retirees Warn of Nude Protest Over Unpaid Arrears in Lagos Rally
Kehinde Adeleye
Federal pensioners on Monday staged a protest in Lagos over the Federal Governments failure to pay their outstanding arrears, including the thirty two thousand naira pension increment and the twenty five thousand naira palliative allowance approved for retirees.
The demonstrators, operating under the Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria, warned that they would embark on a nationwide naked protest next week if the payments are not released.
The group said government agencies have consistently frustrated efforts to resolve their demands despite repeated assurances. They added that an earlier plan to hold a nude demonstration was suspended after appeals from prominent Nigerians who claimed the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate PTAD was working on the issue.
Addressing protesters, the coalition’s National Chairman, Mukaila Ogunbote, said retirees were running out of patience and accused the government of insincerity.
We came out today for a peaceful protest. This was supposed to be a naked protest, but we suspended it because prominent Nigerians intervened. Unfortunately, since then, nothing has happened, he said.
Ogunbote demanded immediate payment of the six month twenty five thousand naira palliative approved for pensioners in 2023 and the thirty two thousand naira pension increment announced in July 2024.
In 2023, workers received their palliatives. Pensioners were promised three months. Up till now, nothing has been paid. When the new minimum wage took effect in July 2024, workers and corps members were paid within one month, yet pensioners received nothing, he said.
He appealed to President Bola Tinubu, Minister of Finance Wale Edun and the Accountant General of the Federation to intervene urgently, lamenting that retirees have been neglected in government policies.
What exactly is our offence. We served this country with our strength and youthful years. Is it a crime to grow old. PTAD said forty five billion naira had been released. Where is the money. Why have pensioners not been paid, he asked.
Ogunbote issued a Friday deadline, warning that retirees nationwide would stage a nude protest next Monday if their demands are ignored. No one will stop us. We are not chickens to be thrown scraps, he said, describing the suffering of pensioners as a national disgrace.
He also urged the government to ensure that December pensions are paid on the twentieth of December instead of January, threatening another protest on the twenty eighth if the request is ignored.
The Secretary of the NIPOST chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Gbadamosi Ganiu, decried the harsh living conditions of retirees, saying many survive on meagre pensions.
Some pensioners receive less than sixty thousand naira monthly. After transport and drugs, nothing remains. People even borrow money to attend protests. At eighty and ninety years old, pensioners are still begging to survive, he said.
Another protester, Mrs Adetokunbo of the Federal Civil Service Pensioners Lagos Chapter, accused officials of withholding funds meant for retirees.
The money is available, but they refuse to release it. Some pensioners who retired since 2006 have not received a single kobo. People are dying waiting for their benefits, she said.
Protesters also criticised the Nigerian Union of Pensioners NUP, accusing its leadership of siding with government instead of protecting the welfare of retirees.
