The SouthWest chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) on Thursday,threatened to take legal action against the Federal Government if it proceeds to unilaterally scrap the Pension Transitional Arrangements Directorate (PTAD) without the explicit approval of the National Assembly.
Dr. Olusegun Abatan, the SouthWest Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NUP, voiced concerns during a press conference held in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital.
He said that the Oronsaye report did not recommend the scrapping of PTAD and urged the government to preserve PTAD as an agency overseeing pension issues for all pensioners.
Abatan highlighted PTAD’s role in ensuring seamless and prompt payment of pensions and gratuities, expressing fear that scrapping it might lead to a resurgence of corruption, harsh treatment, and untimely deaths among pensioners.
He said “The SouthWest NUP may go to court if PTAD is unilaterally scrapped because it will amount to violation of the law of the land and to that effect null and void and of no effect.
“The SouthWest decries scrapping of PTAD and taking pensioners back to Egypt where our pensions and gratuities will be at the whims and caprices of larcenous civil servants.
“We do not want to go back to the era where our members will be dying on queues or traveling from all over the Federation to Abuja before our entitlements are paid.
“In the MOU between the Labour and government in October 2023, government promised to give N25,000 to pensioners, I regret to inform you that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has not fulfilled that promise.
“We appeal to government to do the needful particularly as the firmament is becoming too unbearable and choking for pensioners”, Abatan said.
Also speaking, the PRO lamented the Federal government’s failure to fulfill its promise of a N25,000 palliative fund to pensioners as agreed in the October 2023 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Labour and government.
Abatan appealed to the government, particularly under Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, to honor its commitment, citing the increasing economic hardship resulting from the removal of fuel subsidy
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