Military pensioners ask FG to pay arrears

Speaking to Pyramid Trust in Kano, the Public Relations Officer of the state’s chapter of the club, Captain Yusuf Abdulmalik (rtd) said the military pensioners were finding it hard to survive in their retirement years despite serving the country for years. According to him, “it is really unfortunate that the arrears for military pensioners as […]

Speaking to Pyramid Trust in Kano, the Public Relations Officer of the state’s chapter of the club, Captain Yusuf Abdulmalik (rtd) said the military pensioners were finding it hard to survive in their retirement years despite serving the country for years.

According to him, “it is really unfortunate that the arrears for military pensioners as approved by the Federal Government in 2003 and 2007 are yet to be released. It is equally unfortunate that after serving the country for years, retired officers are suffering and finding it very difficult to cope with the challenges of life”.

He also said the present condition of retired officers in the country was discouraging to young men interested in serving the nation as military officers, adding, “the present condition of retired military officers is quite discouraging to our sons who want to join the military and this is because they are witnesses to our sufferings at retirement and instead of following our footsteps, they resort to other professions with particular interest in politics”.

Abdulmalik therefore called on the Federal Government to come to their aid by releasing the approved N17.2 billion for the retired officers, saying they had concluded the verification exercise which was conducted in September 2009.

He further called on the ex officers to remain calm and patient as they anticipate response of the Federal Government.