The Plateau Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has commended Governor Caleb Mutfwang for clearing pension arrears dating back to 1986.
Eugene Manji, the Chairman of NLC in the state, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Jos. Mr Manji said that “the prompt payment of pension and workers’ salaries had improved the personal income of the citizens and the economy of the state in general.”
He added that the move “had also eased the huge financial burdens for most retirees who had since lost hope of accessing their money.”
“On assumption of duty, the governor felt that the best way to clear the backlog of pension arrears is for payment to be made according to the year of retirement,” Manji said. “The government adopted the approach and as we speak pension arrears from 1986 to 2012 have been cleared.”
“This approach has rekindled the hope of civil servants that have retired more than 40 years ago,” he said. “So, the current administration has no doubt prioritised the welfare of both civil servants and retirees. These monies are running into billions and there are no special funds set aside for pensions; the government usually takes from the federal allocation to make payments.”
Manji described the method of payment adopted by the government as “the best,” adding that it “had brought sanity and addressed all bottlenecks in the system.”
He also said that “the government had also commenced payment of pension of civil servants who retired from active service as from 2023.” “Government has also commenced payment of pensions to civil servants who retire as of 2023. This is going on concurrently with the existing payment method,” he said.