TheCable

Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, has urged the executive to ensure that all backlog of pension payments are made promptly, saying no excuse will be accepted for failure to do so.

Dogara gave this charge on Thursday after Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance and Udoma Udoma, her budget and planning counterpart, briefed the house on efforts made so far to offset arrears owed to Nigerian pensioners.

He expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari will resolve issues surrounding non-payment of pensions to retired federal civil servants.

He recalled that when Buhari promised to provide bailout funds to states for payment of backlog of salaries, he ensured that it was done.

“We will not accept any excuse that leaves part of this pension funds hanging. When the president made a commitment that he was going to release money for bailout to states so that they can pay backlog of salaries and pensions, it happened, even though we were in the midst of a very biting recession. Now the president has said this issue of pension must be solved,” he said.

“I don’t know where you got the money to bail out the states from, wherever you got the money from, that is where we are going to get the money to solve this problem. And for the ministers who are representatives of the president, I believe you won’t make him (Buhari) break his words because his words are cherished.

“I want to believe this will be the last intervention we will be having with regards to the issue of pensions in this country. That is my charge.

“The message the house will be sending to the president through the ministers is, when you meet him to brief him about this engagement, just tell him that we have taken his words to the bank and we believe that we will cash it.”

Abel Afolayan, president of National Union of Pensioners (NUP), who was at plenary thanked Buhari, Dogara and the house of representatives for listening to their complaints and taking action.

He, however, appealed to the executive to speedily pay the 33 percent arrears, preferably within a month, especially as police pensioners were given only three out of their 42 months entitlement.