Pensioners from Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States have urged the Federal Government to address and remove all roadblocks delaying the payment of pensions to retired civil servants in the country.

They made the call separately in a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey on ways to improve pension payments.

NAN reports that in 2004, the Federal Government of Nigeria enacted the Pension Reform Act (PRA 2004) which introduced the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

The act made it mandatory for public and private sector employers and employees to contribute to employee pension benefits.

Pension administration in Nigeria has since faced inadequate funding, poor management, low coverage, lack of awareness and weak regulatory framework.

Most of the retirees who spoke to NAN in separate interviews said despite their pension contributions, they could not access their pension two years after retirement, while some were paid 50% and 25% lump sum after many years of retirement.

A pensioner, Mr. Julius Okafor, told NAN that he retired in 2022 and was yet to be paid his gratuity and monthly pension, saying he lived hand to mouth.

Okafor lamented that after serving his country for 35 years, he is yet to receive his pensions and appealed to the Federal Government to remove all blockages to the payment of pension in the country.

“I submitted all the necessary documents, but the pension administrator is still paying me.

“It was my friends and relatives who supported me and it is painful that senior citizens like us are being treated like this,” he lamented.

Another retiree, Mr. Emmanuel Nwaiwu, while recounting his hardships since he retired in 2024, advised the Federal Government to put in place a system where every civil servant receives lump sum once he retires and thereafter the pension monthly.

According to him, it becomes a problem when someone who has retired will have to wait years before being paid and the longer they delay it, the more other workers retire, making it difficult.

The Zonal Coordinator, Leadway Pension Trustee, Dr. Arinze Udechukwu, blamed the delay in remittance of pension funds by the government to the pension trustees.

He explained that with the new Pension Law, when a civil servant retires, his pension will be divided into two parts of 25 percent or 50 percent as a lump sum, while the other will be distributed as pensionable salary .

However, Udechukwu advised civil servants to join the pension organization that could guide them and give them the opportunity to save, invest as well as the information they needed from their pension accounts.

The zonal coordinator urged the retirees to learn a vocation while working, as it would be difficult to learn it after retirement.

“The civil servants have to save money to invest because the salary is not enough. He has to put aside some of his salary. This is what is called the financial discipline to enable them to take advantage of an opportunity to make a profitable investment.

“If they start now, before they retire they will master the vocation because it is the only thing that will sustain them after they get out of active duty,” he said.

In Ebonyi, some stakeholders in Abakaliki, have called for the need to overhaul the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to effectively improve the contributory system and overcome the delay in payment of benefits to pensioners in the country.

Dr. Mathew Odono, retired Director, National Guidance Agency (NOA), Ebonyi Office, said the situation of receiving the payment is worrisome.

Odono, who retired in March 2024, said he has yet to receive either his gratuity or his monthly pension.

“It is a worrying situation, I retired in March 2024 and as I am talking to you, I have never received a kobo. I applied during my retirement, but until today we have nothing.

“The federal government should look into this matter and review all processes, especially PENCOM, to save the pensioners,” the former director said.

Mrs Happiness Okonkwo, a legal practitioner, supported the call for the review of the pension commission and called for the review of the Pension Reform Act 2024 for the future of civil servants.

Okonkwo condemned the situation, saying it was wrong to hoard one’s savings after 35 years of meritorious service.

“In the case of Ebonyi state, the governor, Francis Nwifuru is a work in progress. He removed all outstanding pensions and gratuities of pensioners from the state civil service.

“When the governor came on board, he made it one of his priorities and the retirees are happy today.

NAN recalls that the governor in May 2024 scrapped the gratuities of retired workers in the state from 1996 to 2023.

Mr. Jude Okpor, the state commissioner for information and guidance to the state, noted that the Nwifuru-led administration has committed to paying the pensioners.

“The governor paid a total gratuity of over N5 billion between 1996 and 2023.

“It is clear as never before that Nwifuru, the most humane and friendly governor of Ebonyi State, not only makes promises, he has kept the last letters of his promise,” he added.

Charlie Okoro, a civil servant, said the state government assumed the payment to ensure that pensioners receive their pensions on time.

“Pensioners in the state no longer have difficulties. We have a governor, who cares about his people,” he said.

Professor Demian Opata, Professor Emeritus, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), said he received his first monthly pension from the pension fund administrator, 13 months after his retirement.

Opata, a professor of English and Literary Studies who retired in 2021 from UNN, explained that when he retired, he filled a series of forms and went through the documentation process as instructed by his pension administrator.

He said that after 13 months he was paid his first pensions and since then he has been regular at the end of each month.

“You choose the percentage of your monthly pension payment between 25% and 50%,” he said.

The professor emeritus said he prefers the pension money spread out over the years rather than all the money being paid out in one go.

“If you are paid all the money at once and you misuse it, what do you do since you are no longer working for a salary.

“As ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’, pensioners should be allowed to choose whether they want it once or spread over years,” he said.

Opata asked the government to intervene to ensure that the period of receiving the first pension does not exceed six months from the day of retirement.

“It will be good if six months is the maximum a pensioner will wait to receive the first monthly pension.

“Some retirees are not strong enough to do another job after retirement, allowing the first pension benefits to be extended by one to two years is tantamount to bringing hardship and suffering on the retirees,” Opata said.

Contributing, Mr. Julius Ezema, a lawyer and rights activist, urged the government to direct all pension fund administrators to start settling the pension benefits of civil servants from six months to his retirement date.

“This will make it possible for everything in terms of gratuity and pension to be ready as soon as the person retires.

“This will prevent the ugly situation of some pensioners dying in the process of waiting so long to receive their pension.

“We must remember that these retirees spent their youthful years serving their country and it will not be fair to pay them with death, hardship or suffering after retirement.

The activist also urged civil servants still in active service in the country to extend maximum support to ensure that retirees are treated with due care and dignity knowing full well that one day they will also retire from service.

The pensioners in Anambra also called on the Pensions Commission to be careful in settling the pension payments of the pensioners who besieged their offices nationwide to collect their entitlements quickly.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka, they called on administrators to respect ICT.

Mr Izunna Mbadiwe, a retired civil servant, urged the Commission to do more.

“We are still faced with an analogue documented procedure, thus making us produce files in the verification exercise.

“In the process, some retirees lose their papers; we should have gone past this stage because this is my third year and still collect all my rights,” he said.

Mrs. ijeoma Ezeokoye, a retired teacher, on her part called for intensive training for Pencom staff to increase productivity.

“Only if the federal government will give importance to training PenCom employees on how developed nations are doing it right because many pensioners are dying daily without getting their money,” she said.

Mr Kelechi Onyeka, a lawyer, said removing the cause of the deadlock would improve the situation.

“There are ways pensioners can pursue their cases in court or the ombudsman, but the process is cumbersome.

“We have always advised clients who want to pursue such matters to remain calm and pray for the introduction of better policies to remove all elements causing obstruction,” he said.

NAN reports that at the Pencom state office in Awka, a staff who simply wants to be identified as Mr. Nnamdi, said all inquiries about their operations cannot be from the state office.

“There is nothing valid from the state office for anyone to tell you.

“All information regarding our work can only be received from our headquarters in Abuja because all I can tell you for sure is that we are improving our services for retirees,” he said.