The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate has cleared a total of N1.18bn in pension arrears over the past five years, from 2020 to 2024, according to data obtained from BudgIT’s accountability platform, GovSpend, on Sunday.
These payments benefitted thousands of retired federal workers and are part of the government’s ongoing efforts to address long-standing pension liabilities affecting various sectors of the public service.
The payments varied annually, with the highest amount cleared in 2023. That year, PTAD paid N591.5m in pension arrears, an increase from the N152.8m cleared in 2020.
In 2021, a total of N59.08m was cleared, followed by N39.26m in 2022. In 2024, PTAD disbursed N343m, ensuring a substantial portion of the arrears accumulated over several years was paid to pensioners.
The arrears covered various sectors, including university staff, retired civil servants, and former employees of defunct parastatals such as the Nigeria National Shipping Line and National Telecommunications.
Some of the payments also included those made to retired permanent secretaries, former accountants general, and various federal civil servants.
For example, between July and October 2023, PTAD paid over N92m in arrears to retired accountants general and permanent secretaries of the federation.
Other beneficiaries included retired staff from universities, ministries, and federal agencies, with payments ranging from several million naira to larger sums, such as N17.3m in April 2024 for arrears owed to NITEL workers.
Despite the progress, pensioners have raised concerns about the timeliness and completeness of the payments, noting that not all retirees have been covered and some are still waiting for their dues to be settled.
During a protest organized by pensioners in November 2024, the National Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme Sector, Sylva Nuatawu, called for a consequential adjustment in pensions arising from the implementation of the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act, 2024.
Nuatawu stated that the union had written several letters to the Ministry of Finance without a response, prompting members to protest at the ministry’s entrance gate.
He urged the federal government to pay N32,000 pension increment to pensioners, pointing out that workers who retired from the Contributory Pension Scheme over 20 months ago (from March 2023 to date) had yet to receive their retirement benefits.
“CPS retirees were excluded from the three pension increments paid or approved by the present administration to retired public servants,” Nuatawu said.
“Additionally, the release of funds for accrued rights to retired workers has accumulated over 20 months. However, three months’ worth of accrued rights were released after a peaceful rally by the union at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on October 23,” he added.
He noted that “we still have a backlog of 18 months yet to be released, and this presents a cause for concern for us as retired workers under the CPS.”
In January, the National Pension Commission revealed that the Federal Government had released an additional N22bn through the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for the accrued pension rights of retirees in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
In a statement released on its Instagram page, PenCom explained that the disbursement was for retirees who had retired between October 2023 and January 2024.
“These funds were disbursed into the Retirement Benefits Bond Redemption Fund Account, domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria, and are meant to settle accrued pension rights for verified retirees of Treasury-funded MDAs,” the pension regulator said.
PenCom also noted that the accrued rights of some deceased employees were covered, with funds already credited to the retirement savings accounts of their beneficiaries through pension fund administrators.
The PUNCH previously reported that the backlogs of pensions owed by the federal and state governments have risen to over N193bn.
