The Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to direct the immediate payment of ₦75,000 in outstanding fuel subsidy removal palliative to pensioners, saying none of its members has received the three-month benefit approved by the Federal Government in October 2023.
The union said the payment, set at ₦25,000 monthly for three months, was approved as part of measures to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on vulnerable Nigerians, including senior citizens.
In an appeal to the President, the NUP said the prolonged non-payment had worsened the financial difficulties facing pensioners amid rising costs of food, medication, transportation and electricity.
The union’s General Secretary, Comrade Godwin Amadin, stated that pensioners initially received the approval with “joy and renewed hope” but had yet to receive the money almost three years after the measure was announced.
The NUP said: “However, we are constrained to inform Your Excellency that no single pensioner has been paid this approved palliative to date.”
According to the union, many pensioners spent 35 years or more in public service under specialised conditions and are now struggling to meet basic household and healthcare expenses.
It argued that the ₦75,000 owed to each eligible pensioner would have provided meaningful relief if it had been disbursed when the palliative was approved.
The pensioners therefore asked Tinubu to direct the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) to commence payment to beneficiaries across the country.
The union also drew attention to the fact that the palliative had already been paid to civil servants, which it said had heightened concerns over the exclusion of pensioners from the scheme.
The NUP maintained that pensioners had already supplied verified data to NASSCO to facilitate what it described as “seamless, transparent, and direct payment” to beneficiaries.
The union, however, commended the President for the regular payment of monthly pensions and the recent approval of ₦25 billion for pension harmonisation and the settlement of other pension arrears.
It appealed to the administration to extend the same attention to the outstanding subsidy-removal palliative, arguing that payment would provide relief and restore confidence among senior citizens.
The union expressed confidence in Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and urged him to intervene personally to resolve the outstanding payment.
“We have absolute confidence in your ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ and your commitment to ‘leaving no one behind’,” the pensioners said.
