Tag Archives: Arrears

Two Retirees Slump During Pension Arrears Protest In Benue

Posted on by
Reply

Two pensioners of the Benue State Civil Service slumped on Wednesday during a protest staged by retirees under the umbrella of Concerned Benue Pensioners in Makurdi, the state capital.

The retirees staged the protest against the Benue State government over alleged unpaid entitlements and gratuity which spanned 11 months.

The protesting pensioners took to the streets of Makurdi carrying placards with various inscriptions demanding for the immediate payment of their pension arrears.

 It was during the protest that two of them allegedly slumped and became unconscious. All efforts to revive the affected retirees proved unsuccessful. They were taken to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention.

Some of the inscriptions on the protesters’ placards read: ‘’Gov Ortom fulfill your campaign promises’’, ‘’Do not starve us to death,’’ ‘’Pay us our pension’’, ‘’We are more than 30,000 pensioners and we are dying like chickens everyday’’, “We are unable to buy our drugs’’, “Our children have stopped going to schools” and so on.

The protesters barricaded the popular CBN- Government House Roundabout causing gridlock for several hours while all efforts by security operatives to calm them down and allow free passage of vehicles failed until they finally decided to move themselves to the main Government House.

The protesters were received at the Government House by the Acting Secretary to the Benue State Government, Dr. Bem Meladu, commissioners of finance, education and the Head of Service.

Presenting their protest letter to the SSG for onward delivery to the governor who was said to be out of the state, the Chairman of the Concerned Benue Pensioners, Mr. Peter Ikyado, said the protest would not end if the state government failed to attend to their plight.

He added that his members were tired of “continued failed promises” by the state government on the payment of their pension arrears.

Credit: Punch

“Settle Arrears Of Salary Owed”, NLC Tells Abia State Government

Posted on by
Reply

Abia State Council of Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] has tasked the Abia State Government to settle arrears of salary owed to Abia workers without further delay.

 

In a communiqué raised at its state executive council meeting, in Umuahia, Abia NLC told Governor Okezie Ikpeazu not to use some projects embarked by his administration “as a hindrance to pay workers’ salaries”, lamenting that Abia workers “are currently passing through hard times due to non-payment of salaries”.

 

In the communiqué which was sent to Governor Ikpeazu through the Head of Service, Labour also called on the government to “as a matter of urgency address the issue of pension arrears owed to pensioners in the State which spans between 5-12 months as the case may be”.

 

Abia workers also condemned in “strong terms, the non-release of check-off dues as at when due from MDAs”, even as they called on the government to “clear the arrears of gratuity owed to retirees in Abia State spanning over 15 years”.

 

To avoid the continuation of the ugly fate of retired workers in the State, the communiqué said that Abia workers have adopted the introduction of the Contributory Pension Fund Scheme which they hoped would address the untold hardship of retirees if well managed.

 

The communiqué which was signed by the State Chairman, Comrade Uchenna Obigwe and the acting Secretary, Comrade John Onaga also frowned at “high taxation of Abia workers which is based on consolidated salary structure, not minding that not all Abia workers are on consolidated salary.”

FG Pays N48.2bn Subsidy Arrears To Marketers

Posted on by
Reply

The federal government last week paid N48.2 billion outstanding subsidy arrears to oil marketers as claims for 2015 to enable them import petroleum products and meet up with their other financial needs, the Ministry of Finance revealed on Tuesday.

A statement issued by the Director (Information) in the ministry, Salisu Na’inna Dambatta quoted the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun to have said that the federal government authorized the Debt Management Office (DMO) to pay the claims less tax liability of N5.171 billion, which was computed by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

“The gross total outstanding subsidy claims accruable to the oil Marketers for 2015 stood at N48, 207, 176, 262.44, while deductable tax liabilities payable to the Federal Inland Revenue Service stood at N5, 171, 186, 373.05 only.

“Giving details of the payments, Mrs. Adeosun stated that Oil Marketers without Tax Liabilities were paid in full, while Oil Marketers with net subsidy claims and FIRS liabilities were paid net claim after deduction of tax liabilities.”

Credit: Thisday

Pensioners Demand Payment Of 42 Months Arrears

Posted on by
1

As part of the annual celebration of the Pensioners’ Day, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has demanded the payment of its members’ 42 months pension arrears without further delay.

In a communique released after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, the NUP also called on the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to quickly address the problems being encountered by pensioners in the ongoing biometric/verification exercise.

The pensioners appealed to the Office of the Accountant General, Budget Office of the Federation and PTAD to work together towards ensuring that their pensions are paid as at when due.

“We demand that the arrears of 42 months of 33 per cent pension increase should be paid without further delay. We also demand the balance of 20.4 per cent that is overdue,” the communique, signed by the national president of NUP, Dr. Abel Afolayan, and the general secretary, Elder Actor Zal, said.

Credit: Leadership

We Inherited N14bn Gratuity, Pension Arrears– El-Rufai

Posted on by
1

El-Rufai, who spoke at a stakeholders’ sensitization conference for the North-West zone on Pension Reform Act 2014, organized by the National Pension Commission, PENCOM, said he had since confirmed 2,484 ghost pensioners and deleted their names from the pension payroll in his state.

El-Rufai, who was director- general, Bureau for Public Enterprises, BPE, said ghost pensioners were impossible under a fully contributory pension scheme.

He explained that Kaduna State approved a new pension bill based on the contributory model, adding that when passed by the House of Assembly, it would ensure that future retirees from the public service never suffered the pains of unpaid pensions.

On her part, Director- General, National Pension Commission, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said the commission was working to provide incentives with requisite flexibility in terms of access to encourage the informal sector to embrace micro pensions for future economic security.

She noted that effective and sustainable pension system remains a challenge in the country as well as in most African countries.

Credit: NationalMirror

Finally! Benue Govt Begins Payment of Salary Arrears

Posted on by
1

There was jubilation in all nooks and crannies of Benue State yesterday as the state government commenced payment of salary arrears of civil servants.

The former Governor Gabriel Suswam administration had owed salaries of workers for several months. The former administration said it lacked adequate finances to offset the backlog of salaries due to the dwindling federal allocation.

However, Governor Samuel Ortom had on assumption of office about a month ago, told the state workers that his administration would ensure that the salary arrears were cleared. He also sought a loan of N10billion in that regard.

Following the commencement of payment, the state workers had started receiving alerts from various banks, for their monthly salary payment since Tuesday and the exercise continued till yesterday.

Yesterday, the civil servants thronged to various markets in Makurdi and other major towns to purchase some items, just as many went to mechanic sites to repair their vehicles while others converged at varied unwinding spots discussing the development.

It was further learnt that some tertiary institutions in the state that were shut down including the Benue State University Makurdi are warming up to reopen. The striking lecturers have also received the alerts for payment of the owed salaries.

A civil servant who simply gave his name as Gwar, said, “because of the payment of the owed salary, I came with my wife and children to purchase items that we can use at home and they will also take to school.”

Credit: leadership

Gov. Rochas Blames Poor Economy For Non-payment Of Workers’ Salary Arrears

Posted on by
Reply

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo has attributed the poor state of the nation’s economy for the non-payment salary arrears being owed government workers in some states of the federation.

Okorocha said this while briefing newsmen on the outcome of a meeting of All Progressives Congress (APC) governors and governors-elect on Tuesday in Abuja.

The governor said that just like the states, the Federal Government was also finding it difficult to pay the salaries of its workers.

“We must say that the economy is bad, let’s face the fact. Most governors are not able to pay salaries and there is no magic any governor can do to pay salary under the present situation.

“We intend to take that up with the President-elect to inform him of the challenges before him, to prepare his mind to know that there is a lot of challenges that the states are facing in terms of payment of salaries, including Federal Government.

“Here, you have an incoming president coming to meet almost an empty treasury, which tells you the challenges we have ahead of us.”

According to him, the APC governors and as well as the governors-elect have decided to meet to also review the just concluded 2015 general elections.

This, he said, would enable the party and its elected officers to strategise on the best possible approach to tackle the country’s challenges.

“Basically, what we did was to review the just concluded election and we have congratulated each other and it’s on record that today, APC has 22 governors-elect, while we are looking forward to getting more by the time we finish with the court processes.

“So this is the first introductory meeting to know one another and to discuss all that took place in the last election, the challenges, the merits and demerits.”

Okorocha said that some of their colleagues had embarked on holiday and medical checks to enable them regain their strength after the tedious electioneering campaigns.

He said that the presence of Senator Bukola Saraki at their meeting was not in any way connected to who emerged the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“Senator Bukola visited during our meeting, but we did not discuss the issue of who becomes the Senate President, or who becomes Speaker of the House of Representatives.

“Our mission is to familiarise ourselves and look at the state of our economy and see how we can meet the president-elect and make some suggestions on what he can do to move Nigeria forward.”

The meeting was attended by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, his Nasarawa counterpart Tanko Al-Makura, Kaduna Governor-elect Malam Nasir El-Rufai and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who is the Sokoto State Governor-elect Aminu Tambuwal.

Others present at the meeting were Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun, former Ekiti governor, Kayode Fayemi, Deputy Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje and APC Chairman, John Oyegun.

Credit: NAN