Nigerian pensioners are unhappy over the backlog of dues owed them by the both state and local governments 

By Anayo Ezugwu

Matthias Ezugwu, 72, retired civil servant from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Enugu State, is not a happy man. For 12 years, he has been waiting for his gratuity after a meritorious service to the state. Ezugwu is scared he may die without enjoying the fruits of his labour.

Although the state does not owe him any pension arrears, he is not happy that since his retirement in 2005, the government has not paid him his gratuities after working for 30 years. Ezugwu’s worry is worsened by the fact that the state government is not showing any sign that they would pay his entitlements anytime soon.

“During our last verification exercise in Enugu, I specifically asked them about our gratuities and the state official said that they are paying it according to the local government in alphabetical order. And I asked him which local government are they in now, he couldn’t say anything. The state government is not being fair to us. We served them with our heart and now that it is time for them to pay our entitlements they are playing politics with it.

“Some of my colleagues are still training their children and most of them are in the same ESUT. And the institution is asking them for school fees and other tuitions whereas the state government owes their parents. Pensioners in Enugu State and Nigeria at large need help from the government or do they want us all to die before they will pay our pension and entitlements,” he said.

Unlike Ezugwu’s case, retired civil servants across Nigeria are being owed many months of pension. States like Borno, Gombe, Edo, Kwara, Benue, Niger, Imo and Taraba owe pension arrears raging from four months to 32 months. According to a nationwide survey by BudgIT, 20 states in Nigeria owe workers and pensioners salaries and entitlements ranging from one to 36 months.

BudgIT, in a statement on Tuesday, June 6, said the survey focused on the frequency of salary payment of six different categories of workers in all 36 states namely: primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, local government workers, state independent workers, pensioners and state secretariat workers.

It said the survey showed many states defaulted in the payments of pensions and gratuities with Imo, Taraba and Niger states owing pensioners two to three years in entitlements. It added that Kogi, Abia, Benue, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states owe workers at least four months salaries in 2017.

The survey, however, gave Lagos and Rivers a clean slate, noting that the states have been consistent in the payment of workers’ remuneration and pensioners’ entitlements. “From the survey carried out, we discovered that apart from the fact that 16 states which are yet to pay the pensions of former civil servants in their service, eight of these states have not paid their pensioners at least 12 months’ pensions, while states like Imo, Taraba and Niger owe pensions of about 2 to 3 years. Notably, these pensioners expressed how unhappy they are, their dissatisfaction with the government and how hard it has been for them to survive.

“In addition to outstanding pensions, we note from our survey that across all categories, states like Kogi, Abia, Benue, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo have not paid their workers’ salaries for this year 2017; owing at least 4 months’ salary. However, the likes of Lagos and Rivers have been consistently impressive with their up to date and full payment of civil servants’ remuneration. There have been several newspaper publications on states’ civil servants being owed salaries and we are also aware that due to the recent economic downturn FAAC allocations to states and their internally generated revenue have reduced drastically making them unable to pay their staff salaries and run their states effectively.

“State governors have recently canvassed that the federal government should provide another tranche of Paris Club refund to offset salaries and other liabilities. We hereby ask the federal government should tighten its accountability structures for the series of extra-statutory funds that are provided to state government, which currently has reached N1.75tn. We also demand that state government need to more in the transparency in the use of the funds and it is pertinent that only 7 out of 36 states namely Bauchi, Kogi, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Gombe and Yobe have provided their full 2017 budgets to the public.”

Concerned, President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, October 17, to lamented that despite the various interventions by the federal government, there were still complaints and agitations by workers over unpaid salaries and allowances by state governments. He wondered how the unpaid workers had been managing to meet their needs.

Buhari made his position known while addressing a delegation of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, led by Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State and chairman of the forum, when they visited him in the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The President told the governors that the plight of workers in the states needed urgent attention as many could barely survive.

“How can anyone go to bed and sleep soundly when workers have not been paid their salaries for months. I actually wonder how the workers feed their families, pay their rents and even pay school fees of their children,” he said.

The non payment of pensions and salaries is already taking its toll on both the retired and still serving officers with some committing suicide. The latest being Edward Soje, a director in Kogi State Civil Service, who allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in Lokoja, on Saturday, October 21. According to reports in the media, the 54-year-old is said to have committed suicide 10 days after his wife of 17 years gave birth to a set of male triplets in a private hospital in Abuja.

The Grade Level 16 Officer in the Kogi State Teaching Service Commission was owed eight months’ salary arrears. Soje had before killing himself travelled to Abuja, and left a suicide note for the wife who also works in one of the federal ministries. The suicide note reads, “Psalm 121:3 God will not suffer your foot to be moved: He that keepeth you will not slumber. Amen. You and the three boys, the God Almighty will keep you and prosper you, amen. I love you.”

Soje’s case is tragic. But how many more pensioners and civil servants will commit suicide before the governments at all levels have the heart to pay them their salaries and pensions. The answer is hovering in the wind.

– Oct 27, 2017 @ 19:35 GMT |