Niger State Pensioners under the auspices of Association of New Pensioners have appealed to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to as matter of urgency intervene in their plight, saying that over 200 of their colleagues have died in the last one year.
However, during his speech at this year’s Workers Day, the Governor said the state government had paid over 1,000 pensioners about N2 billion.
The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Umar Yahaya Katcha, recounted the plight of the pensioners on Tuesday in Minna at a press briefing, adding that Bello had signed into law the amended new Contributory Pension Scheme CPS since September 6, 2017.
Katcha disclosed that despite the executive directive order to commence monthly pension payment, the State Pension Board has refused to fully adhere to implementation.
The Chairman lamented that over 200 of their members had died of starvation, broken homes, children are now school dropped out and they can no longer afford to pay for medication when sick.
He warned: “If nothing is done before the 2019 elections, I would surely mobilize Nigerlites to vote for those that would be sympathetic to our plight and we are ready with our Permanent Voter Cards.
“Our prayers include: Governor should urgently ensure prompt payment of all benefits of the affected retirees, and we urge the state assembly through its relevant committee to ascertain the level of compliance with the amended pension law.”
Katcha further appealed to the All Progressives Congress Chairman in the state and other relevant citizens to passionately call on the Governor to settle retirees in the state.
Katcha regretted that the state government had earlier set up a committee headed by the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, on pension issues to no avail, while the Governor’s Personal Private Secretary also met with the association, where they arrived at some resolutions, but nothing has been done to that effect.