The Federal Government has released about 25 per cent of the total amount budgeted for pension arrears this year.

However, it has pledged to settle the N88bn earmarked for pension arrears in the 2024 budget.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made the commitment on Tuesday when hundreds of frustrated retirees from Nigeria’s Contributory Pension Scheme staged a protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.

The retirees, angered by prolonged delays in the payment of their pension arrears, blocked the main entrance of the ministry demanding an audience with Edun.

Addressing the crowd, Edun disclosed that of the N88bn budgeted for pension arrears in 2024, N22bn had already been disbursed.

He assured the retirees that the remaining funds would be paid by the end of the year, with disbursements set to commence next week.

Edun attributed the pension backlog to challenges within the older system while reaffirming the government’s commitment to resolving the issue.

“What has happened is that there is a backlog in terms of contributions, the backlog under the old system and there is a solution. There has been a committee under the Head of Service, which has met the Minister of Budget, and we have a plan for dealing with the backlog under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

“In addition, under the current budget (2024), there is about N88bn of which N22bn has been paid. And that balance, we are committed to paying it. It has to be paid this year. We are committed to doing that starting next week”, he said.

For a sustainable long-term solution, Edun revealed that the government is considering raising funds through the capital market to clear the backlog entirely.

“In terms of the longer term, it is a huge amount, and we have to have a solution that takes care of everybody. That is being worked on. It’s going to be a question of going to the capital market and raising an instrument that allows that backlog to be cleared once and for all.

“In the immediate term, there will be payment for what is under the current budget and we are working, and we are going to present to Mr President a viable solution using the financial market to take care of the huge backlog under the contributory pension scheme.

“Your funding under the budget will be paid. We will start next week and pay for everything that we can under the current budget as approved by the National Assembly,” Edun said.

The minister’s assurances came as retirees across the country continue to express concerns over delayed payments, calling for prompt action to alleviate their financial hardships.

Earlier in his address, the National Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector, Sylva Nuatawu, called for consequential adjustment in pension, arising from the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024.

Nuatawu said the union had written several letters to the ministry without response, a development that pushed members to converged at the entrance gate of the ministry.

The NUPCPS chairman urged the Federal Government to pay N32,000 pension increment to pensioners.

He said that Nigerian workers who retired from the Contributory Pension Scheme over 20 months ago (March 2023 till date) were yet to be paid their retirement benefits.

“CPS retirees were excluded from the three pension increments paid or approved by the present administration to retired public servants.

“Also, the release of funds for accrued rights to retired workers accumulated to over 20 months, however, three months of accrued rights were released after a peaceful rally by the union at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on Oct. 23.

“We still have a backlog of 18 months yet to be released and this unfortunate present development cause for concern and worry to us as retired workers under the CPS,” Nwaiwu said.

He said that retirees under CPS have become an endangered species, highly famished, dehumanised, and subjected to untold hardship in the country.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the backlogs of pensions owed by the federal and state governments have increased to over N193bn.

Although several states such as Zamfara, Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Nasarawa, and others have been clearing the backlogs, it was gathered that the Federal Government had yet to clear over N88bn in contributory pensions, while many states were burdened by pension backlogs estimated at over N105bn.