NLC talks tough over nonpayment of pensions, withholding of pension deductions

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has described as callous nonpayment of benefits to pensioners and withholding of contributory pensions’ deductions by employers whether public or private.


President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in his May Day speech, was particularly piqued by the cases of unpaid pensions to retirees, lamenting that this “callous and inhumane treatment of pensioners has unleashed untold sufferings on our senior citizens whose only crime was dedicating their entire lives to public service.”

According to him: “Incidences of unlawful and illegal withholding of contributory pension deductions from workers’ salaries and not remitting same to their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) still abound. The unpleasant situations where workers retire from public service and are forced to wait for several months for their pension benefits to be processed still persist.

The lethargic payment and non-payment for those who are already pensioners – especially by state governments, continue to militate against the smooth operation of pension administration in our country. We call on all employers of labour and the three tiers of government to promptly remit all contributory pension deductions to workers’ PFAs.

“Currently, some states owe workers and pensioners their salaries and pensions ranging between three and 15 months. Some states owe pensioners many months of pension arrears despite the bailout funds, budget support fund and the Paris Debt refund. The callous and inhumane treatment of pensioners has unleashed untold sufferings on our senior citizens whose only crime was dedicating their entire lives to public service.

Many of our pensioners have gone down with avoidable ailments and even suffered untimely deaths while waiting for their well-deserved pension allowances. This situation does not augur well and sends the wrong signal to workers still in active service.”