Life unbearable for NOK of deceased retirees — Pensioners
President of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Dr Abel Afolayan, has said that many next of kin (NOK) of deceased pensioners have not been able to access the entitlements of their relations which have made life unbearable for the beneficiaries.
Speaking recently in Abuja, Afolayan said no retiree has been paid since October 2015 due to “non-release of accrued rights by the federal government to the National Pension Commission to pay the retirees who retired since October 2015 to date.
He said many organisations of government and other employers of labour have been defaulting on the regular remittance of contributions of workers to their pension fund administrators which is affecting the philosophy of the scheme.
He said the challenges should be quickly addressed to avoid the mistakes of the past.
Afolayan said the 2004 Pension Act has abolished the right of the pensioners under this scheme to earn gratuity thus denying the employees the chance of getting the usual lump gratuity by the employer to his employee at the time of retirement.
He said the union was making effort to ensure that contributory pensioners’ entitlements are not denied.
“The union has presented to government the demands of contributory pensioners especially the payment of accrued right.
“Also, the union has appeared before the joint committee on budget appropriation at the National Assembly and submitted a memorandum requesting over N183 billion only to find the accrued right of retirees from 2015 to date,” he said.