Pensioners send SOS to Buhari on minimum wage

Nigerian Senior Citizens have sent a Save Our Souls (SOS) plea to President Muhammadu Buhari to salvage them from the present economic hardships through approval of the payment of the new minimum wage.

The pensioners, under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Pensioners (NANP), said their problem precisely revolves around the undue delay by the Buhari administration in approving an upward review of pensions, consequent upon approval of the new national minimum wage in April, 2019

In a letter dated April 8, 2021, to President Buhari, the president of NANP, Mr. Ifeanyi Usifo, noted that the pensioners passionately appealed to the President to approve the White Paper on Pension Review and to further direct the relevant office of government to quickly issue the long-awaited circular on pension increase to enable the relevant ministries, departments and agencies of government expeditiously implement the approved review in their respective establishments

Usifo said those affected were pensioners who retired under the old scheme known as the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), and those who retired before the enactment of the new Pension Reform Act 2004.

He lamented that the delay, which has inflicted hardship on the pensioners, was a violation of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.