Nwafor, who made this known on Monday while speaking during the 2023 May 1st Workers Day celebration held at Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, the Anambra State capital, further revealed that the state government owes some primary school pensioners 11 months of pension arrears from 2002 to 2003.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Anambra State chapter, Comrade Humphrey Emeka Nwafor, has lamented that many pensioners in the state currently receive as low as N333.45 as pension.
Nwafor, who made this known on Monday while speaking during the 2023 May 1st Workers Day celebration held at Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square, Awka, the Anambra State capital, further revealed that the state government owes some primary school pensioners 11 months of pension arrears from 2002 to 2003.
The Anambra NLC boss said that the 11 months pension arrears amount to the sum of N490,184,626.58.
He noted that the arrears were approved for payment in 2014 and the approval is in the custody of the Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) waiting to be disbursed to the beneficiaries but that has not been done to date.
The NLC in the state also called for the scrapping of the contributory pension scheme in the state, saying that since 2014, monies deducted from workers’ salaries had not been remitted regularly to the appropriate quarters.
Nwafor said, “Congress appeals for the declaration by fiat of thirty thousand naira (N30,000) as minimum pension in the state so that the current situation where many pensioners are receiving as low as three hundred- and thirty-three-naira, forty-five kobo (N333.45) as their monthly pension will be a thing of the past.
“Consequently, Congress requests for the payment of arrears of eleven (11) months pension owed some primary school pensioners from 2002 to 2003, amounting to four hundred and ninety million, one hundred and eighty-four thousand, six hundred- and twenty-six-naira fifty-eight kobo (N490,184,626.58).
“The arrears were approved for payment since 2014 and the approval is in the custody of Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) waiting to be disbursed to the beneficiaries.
“It is on record that since 2014 the contributory pension scheme started in the state, it seems that the scheme was designed not to succeed as monies deducted from workers’ salaries were not remitted regularly to the appropriate quarters.
“The non-adherence to the pension scheme laws has made the organized labour to take a stand that the scheme be scrapped and monies deducted from workers refunded back to them.
“We remind you, Mr Governor sir, that this decision is yet to see the light of the day. Congress, therefore, requests for our dear Governor’s pronouncement stopping further deductions from workers’ salaries in the name of the pension scheme.”