Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions, NASU, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU counterpart, have raised the alarm over the untold hardship retired members and their families are passing through.
NASU and SSANU lamented that their retired members of the unions have not been paid their entitlements including death benefits to their families.
Prince Peters Adeyemi, the general secretary of NASU, while explaining some of their grouses with the Federal Government, said: “Many anomalies have been observed with respect to payment of retirement and death benefits to our members.
These anomalies were pointed out to the government and in the signed Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, of October, 2020, it was agreed that within a two-week time-line, efforts would be made to correct the anomalies.
“Till date, however, the situation remains the same and our members continue to languish.
“The justification and benefit of retirees is that a labourer deserves his/her wages and that having served the nation meritoriously for years, they deserve to retire with good benefit packages.
“Unfortunately, little has been done in the payment of retirement and death benefits to our retired and out-gone members, and the hardships caused by inexplicable delays in payment of retirement and death benefits to retired or departed staff is excruciating.
“This was addressed in the 20th October, 2020 Memorandum of Understanding, with a two- week timeline within which the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, AGF, the IPPIS Office, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, OHCSF and the National Pension Commission, PenCom, were to take further action and revert. Sadly, there has been no feedback on this aspect of the MoU which had a two-week timeline even three months after.”
IPPIS problem
On his part, President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, lamented that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, had compounded the situation, saying: “The university system is not the same with the Ministries and Departments, MDs because there are peculiarities in the university; the job schedule is not the same with the ministries.
For example, government had approved the law extending the service years of our members.
“We retire at the age of 65 years for the non-teaching staff, while those in the academic line, especially at the professorial level, can retire at the age of 70 years.
“When this platform of IPPIS was shown to us, we realised that once you are 60 years of age, it kicks you out or if you have put in 35 years in service. We drew their attention. .payment from the same source.”
Source: Vanguard
