Pension: We are not owing Retirees; Niger government

Olabode Adaramola

The Niger state government  has  debunked the insinuation in some quarters  that it  is indebted to both state and local government pensioners, emphasizing  that it has fulfilled its obligation in the payment of monthly pension to retiree in the state under the old pension scheme.

It stated this last Monday in Minna while speaking through the Director General, of the state’s Pension Board, Alhaji Usman Taniu Ahmed, while briefing newsmen at the Press Gallery Government House .

 He stated further   that the monthly wage bill for state retirees under the old pension scheme stood at N128 million, while the 25 local government pensioner collect about N58 million every month as pension.

The government however explained that pensioners that fell under the new Contributory Pension Scheme{CPS} were yet to start collecting their entitlements.

The Director General of the State Pension Board,  Alhaji Usman Tinau Ahmed, who was accompanied to the media briefing by some top government officials led by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isah Ladan and the Head of Service  told journalists  that between March 2016 and June this year government had paid over N2.1billion as pensions and gratuities to both state and local government retirees under the old scheme.

According to Tinau 940 retirees in the local governments had enjoyed their benefits while a total of 388 pensioners from the state civil service had been paid.

He said government was still working out the augmentation for pensioners as a result of the increase in salary of workers between 2002 and 2014.

The Director General further explained that government was still finding it difficult to find solution to the  problem associated with the payment of retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

To this end, the government has sent a bill to the state house of assembly with a view to resolving the problem surrounding the new contributory pension scheme

According to him, “The CPS is a problem, the problem is not caused by this government , we have sent a blll to the house of assembly that if passed into law will solve the problem”

However the Director General said the Board assisted 48 workers that retired before the suspension of the CPS in 2014 to collect their entitlements.