Retirees Renew Call For Pension Review Ahead May 1

As Labour Day comes up soon, the National Association of Pensioners (NAP) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to use the occasion to address problems confronting pensioners the country's pensioners.The senior citizens made the request at the weekend via a letter signed by the association's president, Chimezie Ahaneku, and general secretary, Segun Afolabi. The letter urged Federal Government to announce the implementation of 53.4 per cent increase in emoluments of pensioners in line with the Constitution.They made their plea based on Section 173, subsection 3 the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which says: 'Pensions shall be reviewed every five years or together with any federal civil salary reviews, whichever is earlier.'They argued: 'The review should have been effected from September 1, 2010, when there was 53.4 per cent increase in the salaries of Federal Government workers, and in 2011, when an N18, 000.00 minimum wage was implemented.'NAP claimed to have sent several letters to the President on the issue.It, however, commended steps taken by the government to address issues raised by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) earlier in the month.
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