Unpaid arrears: Pensioners threaten nationwide protest

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

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

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

Speaking on the planned protest on Tuesday in Lagos, the Chairman of the Coalition of Federal Pensioners, Lagos chapter, Comrade Mukaila Ogunbote, lamented that despite repeated demands, the government has refused to pay, describing it as poor treatment of senior citizens.

“We have various issues that need to be addressed, but the one that is very important to us right now is the payment of the N32,000 arrears and the implementation of the N25,000 palliatives. Until now, we have not received the money.

“We, pensioners, up till now, have not received our N32,000 for seven months. We want to know whether we are no longer considered part of this country, or whether the government thinks we are not also feeling the hardship that came with the removal of fuel subsidy. The government cannot continue to treat us this way,” he said.

He stressed that the non-implementation of the N32,000 increment and the N25,000 palliatives had pushed many pensioners to the brink of survival and increased the death rate among retirees.

“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, we have lost 23 people. Everyone knows that after the subsidy removal, the prices of commodities and medicines have skyrocketed.

“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.