An appeal has gone to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to amend the contributory pension scheme in the state to stop untimely death of pensioners in the state.
The Association of Retirees and PFA Pensioners made this known in a letter jointly signed by the Chairman, Michael Omisande, and the Secretary, Johnson Olagbaye.
The association in response to the May Day Address by the governor drew his attention to the negative consequences of the contributory pension scheme which they said, “short-changing our members.”
The association noted that under the old scheme, worker who retired as a Deputy Director, earned N200,000 monthly, while under the new scheme, the pension is N50,000.
Also, an Assistant Director earned N160,000 under the old scheme while under the new contributory pension scheme, the take-home is N45,000.
The also association lamented the delay in payment of pension to their members.
“Lagos retirees still wait for three years minimum before collecting their entitlements. This delay has caused untimely death, sickness, and financial embarrassment among others to our people. By the time the gratuity is worked out, it is so meagre as compared to what is used to be despite our contribution to the scheme,” they said.
The union appealed to the governor to ensure payment of backlogs of pensions to enable the pensioners take care of their health and other needs.
“We expect that the new pension scheme should be able to put food on our tables, but reverse is the case. We are not even talking about our medicals, children school fees, and payment for electric bills among others,” they said.
Describing Governor Sanwo-Olu as a worker-friendly administrator, the association hailed him for approving 10 hectares of land for workers’ Housing Schemes in his May Day Address.
Source: The Nation
