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No fewer than 20 retirees of the National Assembly have died while awaiting the payment of their gratuities and pensions, investigations by the Nigerian Tribune have revealed.
According to sources, the non-payment of their pensions and gratuities is a result of the failure of the Federal Government and the National Assembly to inaugurate the National Assembly Pensions Board, which was passed into law in the 9th National Assembly and assented to by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Investigations showed that intrigues among some members of the National Assembly management and the political arm of the legislature have been responsible for the undue delay, which, according to sources, has also endangered no fewer than 12 other retirees, who are currently bedridden.
A source named some retirees who have died awaiting their entitlements including Deputy Clerks to the National Assembly, Clerks and Secretaries including Mr. Ben Efeture; Alhaji Umar Sani; Chief Emmanuel Ozubele; Mr Idris Jimoh; Micheal Ofesere; Bola Moses; James Obotu; Balogun Yekini; Abdullahi Isa; Martins Agara; Mrs Yakubu Yilji; and Jerry Ikom. At least 12 others have been confirmed bedridden and in different hospitals across the country.
Though the National Assembly was originally covered by the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) which manages the Contributory Pension Scheme, the commission excited the management of National Assembly retirees when the National Assembly Pension Board law came into effect.
This is because the Act stipulates that PENCOM must transfer the assets of National Assembly retirees to the NASS Pensions Board three months after the passage of the bill into law.
PENCOM has already written the management of the National Assembly to provide details of the Pensions Board which will remit the NASS retirees’ pensions assets in its custody, but the management could not provide any account details because the Board has not been inaugurated.
The National Assembly Service Pensions Board Act, 2023, which was assented to by President Buhari on May 27, 2023, empowers the Senate President, in consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint the Chairman, members, and Secretary of the Pensions Board, subject to the recommendations of the Council of Retired Clerks and Secretaries.
However, a correspondence from the said Council dated February 27, 2024, had been submitted to the office of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, but has not been treated.
The said letter signed by Dr. Adamu Fika, OFR, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Council of Retired Clerks and Secretaries, reads in part: “Considering the pathetic health conditions of our retired colleagues, Your Excellency will agree with me that the establishment of the National Assembly Pensions Board is overdue five (5) months after Mr. President’s assent.”
The said letter thereafter proposed names of its members recommended for positions in the proposed Pensions Board in line with Sections 2 and 17(3) of the National Assembly Service Pensions Board Act, 2023.
Following the continued delay in inaugurating the National Assembly Service Pensions Board, the Council of Retired Clerks and Secretaries as well as the Association of Retired Staff of the National Assembly held an emergency meeting on Monday, November 18.
The communique of the meeting, which was made available to Nigerian Tribune and signed by Dr. Adamu Fika, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Council of Retired Clerks and Secretaries; Barr C.J Osman
Chairman, Executive Management Committee, Council of Retired Clerks and Secretaries; Mr. Charles Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Retired Staff of National Assembly and Mr. Patrick A Giwa, Chairman Communique Drafting Committee, decried the prolonged delay in inaugurating the Pensions Board and lamented the deteriorating health of many of the retirees.
To signpost the seriousness of the situation, it was learnt that 82-year-old Fika was said to have led his members to a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly in the office of the President of the Senate after the meeting on Monday.
According to the communique, the meeting made three key resolutions, including that “The leadership of the National Assembly is requested to kindly constitute and inaugurate the National Assembly Service Pensions Board without further delay to save the lives of retired staff who are dying of starvation;
“A team of Senior retired staff should directly interface with the leadership of the National Assembly for quick operationalization of the National Assembly Service Pensions Act,2023;
“The meeting appreciates the leadership of the 10th National Assembly for making provision in the 2024 Appropriations Act for the take-off of the National Assembly Service Pensions Board.”
The communique had equally observed that the National Assembly Service Pensions Board Act, 2023 went through a full Legislative process in the 9th National Assembly before it was assented to by President Muhammad Buhari and that the delay in implementing the Act was already causing “undue and untold hardship to the retired Staff of the National Assembly who are unable to access their retirement benefits.”
It also noted that a number of the retired Staff have died and many are bedridden due to sufferings occasioned by non-payment of their entitlements, while viewing with “serious concern” the sufferings its members have been exposed to.
The communique further noted that appropriate recommendations have been made to the Presiding Officers of the National Assembly for the composition and inauguration of the National Assembly Service Pensions Board in line with the enabling Act, adding that the retired Staff of the assembly, whom it said contributed commensurably to the progress and success of the National Assembly, are now feeling abandoned at a crucial point in their lives.
It also noted that the National Pensions Commission has written to the National Assembly to announce the withdrawal of its services to the retired staff of the National Assembly in line with the provisions of the National Assembly Service Pensions Act, 2023.
ENDS.
