‘Federal pensioners get as little as N12,000 monthly’

The Coalition of Federal Pensioners has lamented the meagre amount members are being paid as a monthly pension, threatening a nationwide protest. Speaking on Tuesday in Lagos, the Chairman of the Coalition of Federal Pensioners, Lagos chapter, Comrade Mukaila Ogunbote, said some pensioners receive as low as N12,000 monthly pension. They are now threatening to […]

The Coalition of Federal Pensioners has lamented the meagre amount members are being paid as a monthly pension, threatening a nationwide protest.

Speaking on Tuesday in Lagos, the Chairman of the Coalition of Federal Pensioners, Lagos chapter, Comrade Mukaila Ogunbote, said some pensioners receive as low as N12,000 monthly pension.

They are now threatening to stage a nationwide naked protest if the federal government fails to pay the backlog of seven months’ arrears of the N32,000 pension increment and the N25,000 palliatives by the end of September.

It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu approved an increase of N32,000 per month for retirees under the defined benefits scheme in August 2024.

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Daily Trust gathered that since the approval, pensioners were paid from August 2024 to January 2025, but have been owed from February to August 2025.

Regarding the N25,000 palliatives, Daily Trust learnt that pensioners have not received any payment since the announcement in October 2023.

Ogunbote lamented that despite repeated demands, the government has refused to pay, describing it as poor treatment of senior citizens.

“A drug that used to cost N2,500 is now almost N8,000. Yet, many pensioners are still receiving as little as N12,000 or N15,000 per month. If the N32,000 increment had been paid, even though it is small, at least it would help us manage ourselves and buy drugs,” he added.

When contacted, the Head, Corporate Communications department at the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Mr. Gbenga Ajayi, said, “The management said the protest won’t take place as the government is doing everything humanly possible to pay them before then.”

From  (Lagos) & Philip Shimnom Clement (Abuja)