Unpaid pension: Over 1,000 NAMA retirees seek FG’s intervention

More than 1,000 retirees of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) are still waiting for their pension benefits years after leaving service. They are urging the Federal Government to intervene urgently in the prolonged delay of their pension increase arrears.

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We have over 1,000 retirees who have yet to get their pension. The situation is still the same as we have known since 2007.

Stephen Olopha, Chairman of the NAMA Pensioners Association, stated that affected pensioners, who transitioned from the Defined Benefits Scheme to the Contributory Pension Scheme, have not received pension increments since 2007. He explained that their accrued rights were transferred to the Contributory Pension Scheme, and these pensions should have been increased, which has not happened. The retirees are demanding payment of all arrears from 2007 to the present.

Olopha lamented that despite numerous engagements with relevant authorities, their concerns remain unaddressed. He noted that some pensioners have died from poverty and suffering, as they believed their pensions should be earning from the Contributory Pension Scheme. The association is now appealing directly to President Bola Tinubu for intervention, suggesting that NAMA may not have the necessary funds to settle the outstanding obligations.

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So, they ought to have been increasing our pension, which they never did. So, we are asking them to pay all our arrears, pension increase arrears, from 2007 to date.

He urged the Federal Government to provide financial support to NAMA to clear these debts. Olopha highlighted that some retirees who left service as early as 2009 have yet to receive their pension increases and arrears. He contrasted this with Treasury-funded agencies, for which the federal government has released funds for similar payments, while self-funded agencies like NAMA have not paid their retirees.

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And we attached a list of people who have died of poverty, suffering, because they never believed that our pensioners should be earning from the Contributory Pension whereas that is not the intention of the government.

Furthermore, Olopha accused NAMA of failing to implement the pension adjustment announced by President Tinubu following the national minimum wage increase. He stated that some retirees were told they would not receive the N32,000 adjustment announced in 2024, leading to significant grievance and anger among the pensioners. The retirees have exhausted all dialogue avenues and are now seeking presidential intervention.

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So, when we were holding meetings with them, thinking that they would do something, but they have not done anything. And so, the pensioners have no other option but to call on the President and Commander-in-Chief to intervene. Probably NAMA doesn’t have the money to pay.