‘Why pensioners picketed First Bank offices’

Alhaji Mohammed Bungudu is the National Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), First Bank branch. In this interview, he speaks on the relationship between the management of the bank and its pensioners.   Why is your union picketing branches of First Bank across the country? After all genuine efforts to reach out to […]

Alhaji Mohammed Bungudu is the National Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), First Bank branch. In this interview, he speaks on the relationship between the management of the bank and its pensioners.

 

Why is your union picketing branches of First Bank across the country?

After all genuine efforts to reach out to the management of First Bank for improvement of our welfare failed, including intervention of the Federal Ministry of Labour and NUP, the pensioners decided to picket the Kaduna and Ibadan main branches of the bank on February 8, 2016. The bank took the matter to court, asking the court to restrain us from further picketing their offices across the country. It claimed that the pension for which we wanted increment was not a right but a privilege.

What was the decision of the court?

The court gave judgment in our favour on the July 12, 2016, stating that the bank could not stop us from protesting as it was our right as provided in the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Act. It went further to state that the pension payment is our right as provided in our employment contract with the bank and the Nigerian Constitution.

Furthermore, our pension is supposed to be reviewed upward every five years. More so, the court also said we (pensioners) were not being paid from the company’s profit and loss account. Instead for the bank to invite us for negotiation, they appealed against the July, 2016, judgment. The matter is still in court.

Another picketing was carried out at First Bank, Coomasie House, Abuja, on May 22, 2018, at the instance of NUP and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). At the event, a team led by Alhaji Shehu Aliyu at the instance of First Bank’s management had a meeting with us and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was reached; that we should suspend the action and that we would be invited for a dialogue within 30 days from the day of the picketin. Instead of honouring this agreement, the bank, through its lawyer, wrote that our action was illegal, but our lawyer has responded accordingly. We are considering other options anyway.

Much earlier, the pensioners noticed discrepancy in the management’s information on their funds. Efforts to get them clarify the issues failed and the pensioners took the matter to the Investment and Securities Tribunal Holden at Lagos which gave its ruling on Monday, October 25, 2010. The court ordered the management to account to the pensioners, how much of the pensioners’ funds totalling over N200bn as reflected in 2006 audited annual report, was transferred to IBTC Pension Managers in 2007. The court also ordered the management to account to the pensioners’ reasons for decline in the percentage of their shareholding in the bank’s capital from 10 to five per cent. As grave as the matters are, till date, none of those issues have been addressed.

Since the case is in court, why are your members picketing the bank’s branches?

We are suspecting that they are influencing the court’s delay. That is why we also involved the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, who was an MD/CEO of the bank and Governor of CBN, the Senate, the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the CBN, apart from Federal Ministry of Labour, to help us out.

How much is the money involved?

Over N200bn accumulated pension funds as reflected in the First Bank Year 2006 Audited Company Account report.

What do you intend to do now?

We are pursuing the two court cases and we are confident that judgments will be made in our favour.

What has your executive done since you came into office a few months ago?

The present exco came on board about two months ago, but it is made up of mainly the same officials re-elected for a second tenure. We are committed to carrying out measures stated earlier hoping that the management will see reason and invite us for a cordial meeting on the way forward.

What is the way forward?

Cordial, mutual and harmonious relationship between the management of the bank and its pensioners who laid the golden eggs. We remain grateful to the management for prompt payment of our monthly pension and yearly medical allowances which has been the same for the past eight years. Our struggle over the years is to have these payments improved; and the earlier the better.

The Federal Government improved its pensioners’ packages several times in recent times. We see no reason why that cannot be done to us.