THE Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his administration’s commitment to improving the welfare of retirees across the country while appealing for the approval of a new National Minimum Pension of N60,000 for pensioners.
Speaking during the 2025 Pensioners’ Day Celebration held at the union’s national headquarters in Abuja, NUP National President, Comrade Godwin Abumisi, said the union remains deeply appreciative of the President’s ‘numerous interventions and approvals’ which have brought relief to many pensioners. He said Tinubu’s administration has shown ‘unprecedented political will’ in addressing lingering arrears and implementing pension reforms that had been neglected by previous governments.
Comrade Abumisi highlighted several achievements of the present administration, including the payment of 20% and 28% pension arrears, the implementation of the N32,000 consequential adjustment following the approval of the new N70,000 National Minimum Wage, and the recent release of N20.188 billion for the commencement of the new pension increase under the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD). He also cited the approval of a N758 billion bond for the payment of arrears owed to pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and the commencement of a free National Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners as ‘bold and commendable steps that reflect a humane and responsive government.’
However, while applauding these measures, the NUP President called on the Federal Government to do more to alleviate the economic hardship confronting elderly citizens. ‘In the spirit of our celebration and on behalf of Nigeria’s pensioners, I humbly make a passionate appeal to our amiable and indefatigable President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) to consider his gracious approval for a new National Minimum Pension of N60,000 instead of N32,000,’ Abumisi said. He stressed that the current pension value has been rendered almost meaningless by the high cost of living, adding that: ‘the hyperinflation which has for long bedevilled Nigeria has eroded the current value of our currency and has, by so doing, rubbished our monthly pensions which can only purchase little or insignificant quantum of food and other welfare items, not to talk of our medical needs.’
Abumisi also appealed to the Federal Government to release the remaining N37 billion out of the N58 billion earlier approved for the implementation and payment of arrears arising from the N32,000 pension increase. He urged the President to ensure the inclusion of pensioners from seven defunct parastatals: PHCN, NITEL/MTEL, Peoples Bank, Assurance Bank, Petroleum Institutes, NICON Insurance, and Nigeria Insurance who were inadvertently excluded from benefitting from the new pension increase. ‘We appeal to Your Excellency to please direct the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission to issue a fresh circular to accommodate the affected parastatals,’ he said.
The NUP President further reminded the government of the need to pay the backlog of pay-off entitlements to defunct Nigeria Airways pensioners, estimated at about N36 billion, and to release the three months’ N25,000 palliative earlier approved for pensioners to cushion the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
Turning to state governments, Abumisi expressed concern that only 13 out of Nigeria’s 36 states currently prioritise the regular payment of pensions and gratuities. He, however, commended governors who have demonstrated responsibility toward retirees’ welfare, singling out Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State for paying N27 billion of inherited pension arrears with a promise to clear the balance before the end of his tenure. He also applauded Governors Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Lucky Ayedatiwa (Ondo), Umar Bago (Niger), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Douye Diri (Bayelsa), Alex Otti (Abia), Hope Uzodimma (Imo) and Charles Soludo (Anambra) for maintaining prompt pension and gratuity payments in their respective states.
‘To these pensioner-friendly governors, I say bravo!’ Abumisi declared. He urged other governors ‘with humongous arrears of pensions and gratuities hanging on their necks’ to emulate their peers by beginning payment immediately, warning that failure to do so continues to impoverish retirees who have already given their best years to public service.
The NUP leader also reminded state governors and local government chairmen of their constitutional obligation to implement all pension increases approved by the Federal Government over the years, including the 6.5%, 15%, 33%, 20/28%, ?30,000 consequential adjustment, and the N32,000 pension increase, in line with Section 173 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which mandates pension reviews every five years.
The event, which marked the third consecutive celebration of Pensioners’ Day since its official declaration by the Federal Government in 2021, was a mix of celebration and sober reflection. Abumisi described the day as ‘a proud moment for all Nigerian pensioners to rejoice, reflect, and renew hope,’ while expressing optimism that ‘by the next celebration in 2026, all state councils, branches, and sectoral units will have fully aligned with the October 5 declaration for a nationwide observance.’
Concluding his address, the NUP President reaffirmed his gratitude for being re-elected unopposed for a second term during the union’s National Delegates’ Conference held earlier in April in Kano. He pledged to ‘serve pensioners much better than ever before,’ while assuring that efforts are ongoing to resolve internal crises in some state councils and address outstanding pension arrears still owed by various governments.
He prayed for continued good health and longevity for all pensioners, declaring that ‘the goodness and mercy of God shall never depart from us as we pray to celebrate more of this day in the years ahead.’