Three years after the Federal Government approved a three-month N25,000 monthly palliative for vulnerable Nigerians following the removal of fuel subsidy, pensioners are still waiting for payment, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The union, in a letter to the President, appealed for the immediate release of the N75,000 total relief to pensioners, saying none of its members had received the approved payment since the measure was announced in October 2023.
The NUP, through its General Secretary, Comrade Godwin Amadin, said the palliative was approved as part of measures to cushion the impact of subsidy removal on vulnerable Nigerians, including pensioners.
According to the union, the approval was received by senior citizens “with joy and renewed hope,” particularly because pensioners have been among those hardest hit by rising costs of food, drugs, transportation and electricity.
“However, we are constrained to inform Your Excellency that no single pensioner has been paid this approved palliative to date,” the NUP said.
The union expressed concern that the prolonged delay had further worsened the hardship facing pensioners, many of whom, it said, had served the country for 35 years or more under specialised public service conditions.
It argued that the N75,000 due each beneficiary would have provided significant relief for food, medication and other basic necessities had it been paid promptly.
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The NUP therefore appealed to Tinubu to direct the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) to commence payment of the palliative to pensioners nationwide.
The union also pointed out that the palliative had already been paid to civil servants “almost three years ago,” further fuelling its demand for immediate action on the pensioners’ outstanding payment.
The pensioners said they had already provided verified data to NASSCO to facilitate “seamless, transparent, and direct payment” to beneficiaries.
The union commended the President for the regular payment of monthly pensions and the recent approval of N25 billion for the implementation of pension harmonisation and payment of other pension arrears.
It urged the administration to extend the same commitment to the outstanding palliative, saying its release would help restore hope and dignity to senior citizens.
“We have absolute confidence in your ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ and your commitment to ‘leaving no one behind’,” the union said, appealing to the President to urgently intervene.
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