General News

SOME pensioners have decried the inability of the Contributory Pension Scheme to promptly pay retiring public servants’ entitlements to boost their wellbeing.

The stakeholders in a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the South South region described the scheme as grossly ineffective, unfair and inactive.

They expressed disappointment that some retirees had to wait for years before receiving their gratuities and pensions after serving the nation, adding that some died waiting for their benefits.

They were of the opinion that even with the amended Pension Reforms Act, 2004, government did not priotise workers’ wellbeing, hence their starvation immediately after retirement.

The stakeholders, however, said that the success of implementation of the act depended largely on government’s commitment to alleviating the plights of retirees and their relations.

According to Mr Otei Aso, a retiree from the Cross River civil service, the whole pension act of 2004 was a selfish law to satisfy few individuals.

‘’Otherwise what is wrong with giving retirees the money they worked for, immediately they retire?

‘’It took me one year to receive my lump sum and when it came, there were lots of discrepancies as some junior ones received more than their seniors.

“As I speak to you, my 54 months pension has not been sent to my Pension Fund Administrator from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).’’

A civil servant in Calabar, Mrs Paulina Edet, said it was appalling to receive calls from directors who retired from service years back, asking for N5,000, for instance, to buy drugs as they had yet to receive their benefits.

“I don’t see any reason why someone will retire, with all the pre-retirement training for three months and the necessary papers not processed to enable him to receive his money promptly,’’ she said.

According to her, upon retirement, a lot of people come down with illnesses and some plan to relocate to their villages without their severance packages.

She further said that the challenge made those still in service and approaching retirement to be scared.

Edet wondered if something was wrong in the way workers’ savings were being managed by the pension fund administrators and if the fund went to the appropriate quarters.

“Sometimes it looks like government and the pension managers deliberately make the process cumbersome and long for some of the retirees to die and their monies claimed by other people,” she alleged.

Mr Anthony Osanekwu, a retiree from the Delta civil service, blamed the sudden death of some retirees on the delay in payment of their retirement benefits.

He explained that the state government joined the contributory pension scheme in 2007 and it became operative in 2008, but in 2010, it could not meet up with payment of the first set of retirees’ gratuities promptly.

He, however, attributed the delay to government’s inability to remit its own contributions making the retirees to wait for years before receiving their entitlements.

In Akwa Ibom, a retired federal health worker, Chief Michael Essien, described the country’s pension system as “unfair and unfortunate.’’

He said that due to the fear posed by retirement benefits challenges, workers resorted to age falsification in order to stay longer in service.

Essien said in Uyo that the essence of pension laws was to establish an effective social security system for the retirees who spent 35 years of their lives to work for the nation.

He noted that crime and dishonesty in public offices would not reduce until pensioners were given a better deal.

Another respondent, Mr Akpanso Udofia, a retired headmaster, attributed the delay in payment of the entitlements to the failure of some state governments to implement the new pension law.

”Pensioners deserve prompt payment of their benefits; government should please take the plight of pensioners seriously,” he said.

Mrs Mercy Odiase, a pensioner in Edo, expressed frustration over the non payment of her gratuity 12 years after retirement from Ikpoba Okha Local Government Council of the state.

Odiase, a retired primary school teacher, said that some teachers who retired from local government councils in the state had yet to get their gratuities 12 years after retirement.

She said, “I retired in 2010 and till now, my gratuity has not been paid; I only get my monthly pension but not as and when due.

“The gratuity was calculated to be about N3 million when I retired. Then the money had value; one dollar was about N152 but now one dollar is over N700.’’

Odiase regretted that the money had lost value and appealed to the state government to come to the retirees’ aid.

She said that it was painful that after working for 35 years, she had yet to enjoy the benefit.

In Rivers, the Chairman of the State Pension’s Board, Mr Collins Nwankwo, urged government to ensure early settlements of retirees’ benefits.

He said in Port Harcourt that government could achieve this by ensuring early documentation of retirees and timely release of fund.

The chairman disclosed that Rivers government did not implement the 2004 pension act, but abrogated it and introduced its own which had yet to take off.

Another retiree, Mrs Ann Josiah, also decried the delay in the payment of retirees’ gratuities and pensions, saying, ‘’it is not favorable to our wellbeing.’’

She called for timely settlements of the benefits to enable pensioners to live long.

On his part, Mr Lawrence Ebipa, a civil servant in Bayelsa, said there had been several reviews of pension schemes by the federal government, but they all had implementation problems.

According to him, the failure of pension schemes in the country has been attributed to poor pension fund administration, outright corruption, embezzlement of pension fund, inadequate build-up of funds and poor supervision.

“The success of the pension reforms largely depends on the sincerity, collaboration and commitment of all stakeholders,” he said. (NAN)

KN

Tags: Anthony Osanekwu Michael Essien Otei Aso Paulina Edet