Niger Pensioners Threaten
to Occupy Govt House,Demands Payment of Gratuities other Benefits.
By Yahaya Zakka Minna.
Pensioners in Niger State have given the state government a seven-day deadline to pay their gratuities and unpaid benefits, warning of an indefinite protest and occupation of the government house in Minna if their demands are not met within this period.
During a meeting at the UK Bello Arts Theatre in Minna, all retirees presented their main demands, including the payment of gratuity, death gratuity, pension increases as granted to civil servants, a refund of 7.5% contributory pension scheme, and unpaid pension arrears. Comrade Mahmoud read a statement immediately after the meeting, outlining these issues.
Later, at the same venue, Mr. Steven Daniel Zita, Chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), called on Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to resume paying gratuities.
The meeting which comprises coalition of five groups of Niger State pensioners including JAC,the Association of Heads of Service & Permanent Secretaries, the Directors Forum, the Concern Citizens Forum, the Association of Local Government Retirees, and a Pressure Group has been actively involved in this issue.
Mr Zita explained that the government had initially earmarked 25 billion Naira to clear the gratuity backlog and released the first tranche of which 6.5 billion Naira was paid to pensioners.
According to him Payments stopped in March 2024 without explanation, and since then, no further disbursements have been made.
He stated, “We have engaged traditional rulers across the state to assist plead to the Governor Umaru Bago on retirees behalf to resume the payment of gratuity and personally appealed to him, but we have yet to receive a response. Payments started and then abruptly stopped, leaving pensioners in uncertainty and hardship.” Zita stressed the urgency of their plea, citing the death of many pensioners due to a lack of access to medical and financial resources.
“Pensioners are dying daily, We implore the governor Mohammed Umaru Bago to forgive us any wrongs we have done to him and consider our plight,” he appealed, urging swift action by the government in this issues.
Mr Zita also commended the governor for enrolling pensioners into the Niger State Contributory Health Care Agency (NICARE) at no cost, considering it a positive development.
In personal stories, Mrs. Mary Damisa, a widow with eight children, described her struggles as her monthly pension barely supports her family needs.
She called on Bago to restart gratuity payments immediately. Likewise, Elder Bayo, a retired director with seven children, expressed disappointment over the halted gratuiry payments and questioned the sincerity of political promises, stating, “I have lost confidence in politicians because they seek you when they need votes but forget you afterward.”
