Pensioners in Southwest on Wednesday, threatened to sue some govenors in the region over non payment of gratuities and other benefits.
They revealed that the govenors still owed majority of their members gratuities for 15years, dating it back to year 2011.
The Southwest PRO of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Olusegun Abatan disclosed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists during the union’s quarterly meeting hosted in Abeokuta by the Ogun State branch.
Abatan stated that the senior citizens had begged and appealed to the governors, yet no positive response was gotten.
He singled out Governor Seyi Makinde and his counterpart from Ondo State, Lucky Ayedatiwa as those who have done so well to support the pensioners, adding that the union has decided to honour them with special celebration at the end of the year.
His words, “The money that should have been collected in 2011, even if it was 10,000 Naira in 2011, it is no more worth a while in 2026 and is quite unfortunate that these governments or governors go about as if nothing is happening.
“For those governors that are taking care of pensioners, we said it at our meeting in Osogbo, that we are going to celebrate them at the end of the year, and the governors are principally two out of southwest, Engr Seyi Makinde and the Gov Lucky Ayedatiwa of Ondo State.
“But for those governors that are not taking care of us, we have also decided to take them to court and fight for our rights. We have been doing it as elder citizens begging and appealing to them but as far as they are concerned, they don’t care whether the pensioners live or not. So we will soon take them to court”.
The retirees bemoaned the present N25,000 minimum pension, stating that even the N70,000 minimum wage is a far cry from the nation’s economic realities.
They pleaded with the labour unions to begin serious negotiations with the government over a decent minimum wage and pension.
The union also accused the governors of being unfair to pensioners by delaying to implement the 2019 consequential adjustment and the payment of pension increases as mandated by the federal government since 2010.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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