The Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Lagos State Council, has begun a warning protest in Badagry over alleged unpaid pension liabilities and other welfare concerns.
The Lagos NUP Chairman, Mr Olufemi Olarewaju, represented by the chairman of the union’s Badagry zone, Mr Abdulmalik Abiodun, said the protest was aimed at drawing the state government’s attention to the hardship facing retirees and demanding the payment of outstanding benefits.
Olarewaju said the union had given the government an ultimatum to credit pensioners’ accounts by August 19, but the deadline elapsed without action. He said the warning protest was a prelude to a larger demonstration planned for August 31, when pensioners intend to march to the Lagos State Government Secretariat in Alausa and the State House of Assembly.
The union said pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme were owed 57 months of arrears arising from the consequential adjustment to the 2019 minimum wage. It also listed outstanding adjustments and wage awards owed to pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Olarewaju further called for the payment of retirees who left service from 2024 and whose files had reportedly been cleared by the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC). He also appealed for pensioners in state parastatals to be moved to the mainstream public service system to ease payment.
The NUP chairman urged the Lagos State Government to address the outstanding liabilities, saying pensioners who spent years in public service deserved to receive their benefits and live with dignity after retirement.
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