Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has decried the pathetic condition of retirees in the country, revealing that some members receive as little as N500 monthly as pension.
Gatekeepers News reports that Alhassan Musa, NUP secretary in Kaduna, described the situation as “pathetic” and appealed to the federal government for an upward review of pension.
“The worst affected are pensioners in most of the southern and oil-producing states, despite getting fat allocations from the federation account,” Musa said.
“We are hoping that the federal government will balance it up so that no pensioner will receive less than N70,000 as their monthly pension.”
Musa called for a 50% increase in the minimum pension to reflect the social and economic realities in the country.
“The union proposed a 50% increment even under the defunct N30,000 national minimum wage. We are anticipating that the 50% increment would be approved in line with the new N70,000 national minimum wage.”
He lamented that some pensioners under the federal government were still receiving N10,000 minimum pension, despite retiring over 10 years ago. “Honestly, these people are facing a lot of challenges… It is really pathetic, this is happening in Kaduna and other states.”
