Pay our full entitlements, pensioners beg FG

The Association of Federal Contributory Scheme Pensioners in  Oyo State, on Monday,  appealed to the Federal Government to promptly  pay the full entitlements of members  so as to ameliorate their sufferings.
The association’s President, Mr Matthew Shittu, made the call in Ibadan.
Shittu said  retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) were being short-changed as a result of the non-payment of their full entitlements.
He said that the Federal Government was still owing pensioners who joined the CPS  at inception accrued interests on their initial entitlements  as at July 2004, adding that this was   deposited with the CBN as bonds.
“We demand from the Federal Government  the payment of our accrued  interest on our money bonded with the CBN since 2004  when the  Federal Government  retired  us.
“They only pay our accrued  rights  and the money we contributed to the PFA leaving outstanding the accrued  interest,’’ he said.
Shittu demanded the calculation and payment  of all accrued interests for all pensioners as at July 2004 at the government’s official interest rate.
The association’s  president said that the seeming  silence of  the National Pension Commission (PenCom) on the accrued  interests payable to retirees under the new scheme was a cause of concern to  his members.
He called on the Federal Government to direct the  commission, CBN, Account-General of Federation and other relevant agencies which are custodians of contributory pensions to calculate and pay the  outstanding interest of  pensioners’  bond  without delay.
Shittu also called for  the payment of  the retirement benefits of pensioners who retired since  January 2017.
“We have written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, DG of  PenCom, Minister of Finance, National Assembly and other arms  of government in Nigeria for them to come to our assistance and address our plight,’’ he said.