Retirees of the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Benin branch, have protested what they described as the prolonged non-payment of their pensions and gratuities.
The pensioners, who staged the protest on Friday, called on the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to release their outstanding entitlements, which they claimed have accumulated over the past 25 years.
Speaking on behalf of the retirees, Alile Osakioduwa alleged that the total amount owed to the pensioners exceeds N350 billion. He said the outstanding payments include arrears arising from harmonisation, monetisation and electricity rebates.
According to Osakioduwa, some retirees who left service as far back as 2000 were also allegedly underpaid their gratuities, with about 45 per cent of their entitlements still outstanding.
The pensioners further claimed that they had not benefited from recent pension increases approved by the Federal Government, including adjustments introduced under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Osakioduwa said the continued delay had placed many elderly retirees under severe financial pressure, particularly those struggling to pay for medical treatment and meet basic household expenses.
He appealed to PTAD to urgently resolve the issue, warning that the prolonged hardship was taking a serious toll on the retirees. He said many members of the group were elderly, sick and unable to adequately provide for themselves and their families.
Another retiree, Solomon Ifijeh, supported the claim that funds for the payments had already been released to PTAD. He alleged that the money was received by the agency in May following intervention by the Federal Government and that the pensioners were initially assured that payment would begin in June before being moved to July.
According to Ifijeh, July passed without any payment or clear indication of when the outstanding benefits would be released.
The retirees therefore appealed directly to President Tinubu to intervene and direct PTAD to address their concerns. They said immediate action was necessary to prevent further hardship among former NEPA and PHCN workers who have waited for years to receive benefits they believe are legally due to them.
The pensioners maintained that after decades of service to Nigeria’s electricity sector, they deserve to receive their outstanding pensions, gratuities and other entitlements without further delay.
