Retirees enrolled in the Contributory Pension Scheme are calling for the enactment of minimum pension implementation. The request was articulated in a statement titled ‘Demand for the Full Implementation of Contributory Pension Scheme in Nigeria,’ signed by Matthew Shittu, President of the Contributory Pensioners Union of Nigeria, Eleyele Branch, Ibadan.
Addressing Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, the Chief of Staff of the Federation, the Senate president, and the director-general of the National Pension Commission, the retirees emphasized the absence of provisions for Contributory Pension Scheme members in the recent wage increase to N30,000 for federal civil servants/retirees. They urged the inclusion of provisions for this group.
Expressing gratitude for the timely release of funds, the union directed PenCom to ensure punctual payment to Contributory Pension Scheme retirees. Furthermore, they called for the immediate implementation of pension increments based on 15 per cent and 33 per cent of 2007 and 2010, respectively, which are still pending.
The retirees frowned at the non-disclosure of the template for calculating retirees’ benefits under the CPS.
For example, it added, “The Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria and PenCom still owe all categories of CPS from inception of 2004, accrued interest on their entitlements as at July 2004 which was deposited with the CBN as bonds.
“Therefore, we are demanding the calculation of all accrued interests (On all monetised amounts) as of July 2004 at the government’s official interest rate as at the time to be paid to our members.”
The retirees also demanded the union’s representation on the forthcoming Pension Act Review Committee coming up in 2024.
CPUN said it did not want people who were not stakeholders to represent it anymore.
It stated, “The union also demands that, henceforth, any entitlement due to retirees under the CPS should not be paid like 2.5 per cent which was pro-rated into 10 years. Every delayed entitlement should be paid directly to the beneficiaries.”
