Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the federal government will begin payments to clear the pension backlog starting next week.
Edun spoke on Tuesday during the protest by the Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector (NUPCPS) at the federal ministry of finance, Abuja.
“We will start next week to pay everything that we can under the current budget as approved by the National Assembly,” the minister said.
“What has happened now is that there is a backlog in terms of contributions, and there is a solution.
“There has been a committee under the Office of the Head of Service which has met with the minister of budget and me.
“We have a plan for dealing with the backlog under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).”
He said it involves going to the capital market and raising an instrument that will clear the backlog once and for all.
“We are going to present to the president a viable solution using the financial market to take care of the huge backlog under the CPS,” Edun said.
The minister said he was displeased with the older citizens expending their money to get to the ministry to protest the pension backlog.
“I am not happy that you have had to take this step, and I assure you that any time you or your leaders seek an audience with me, I will be available in the office,” the minister said.
“I was not aware of the November 11 deadline; otherwise, I would never have allowed a situation like this.
“In spite of your age and your situation in terms of the cost of living, it costs money to come here. I would have avoided that as much as I could.”
Sylva Nwaiwu, national chairman of NUPCPS, appealed to the minister to address the pension issues soon, adding that the federal government had not released accrued rights for pensioners since March 2023.
“Our senior citizens are suffering, after using our youthful years to serve our fatherland, and we get this in return,” the chairman said.
“Please use your good office to help us. Some of our members are bedridden, and some have died in the struggle.
“We cannot feed ourselves, take care of our families, or manage our medical bills anymore.”
Commending President Bola Tinubu for raising the minimum wage, he said the pension scheme had never benefited from any increment under the National Minimum Wage Act.
Nwaiwu said the group had submitted letters to the minister, but none was acknowledged, which is why union members organised the rally.
Christiana Ubah, a pensioner, said she retired in 2015 from the budget office of the federation but could no longer feed herself.
“See how my face is, it is hunger,” she lamented.