Pensioners threaten ‘naked protest’ nationwide over unpaid benefits
The Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria has threatened to stage a nationwide naked protest on October 6 if the federal government fails to implement approved pension increments and palliatives.
The coalition’s National Chairman, Mr Mukaila Ogunbote, made the announcement on Tuesday during a news conference in Lagos. Ogunbote, who also chairs the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NIPOST Chapter, said pensioners had set a September deadline for the government to settle outstanding arrears, increments and palliative payments.
He warned that failure to act would leave pensioners with no choice but to take to the streets unclothed, in what he described as a symbolic exposure of government neglect.
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Ogunbote recalled that in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu approved N35,000 for workers and N25,000 for pensioners as palliatives. While workers received their payments within one month, pensioners were still waiting almost a year later.
He added that workers had since received additional palliative payments for ten months, while pensioners’ requests covering six months remained unmet. He further alleged that President Tinubu’s directive of a N13,000 pension increase had not been implemented by either the Ministry of Finance or the Office of the Accountant-General.
“When we enquired, we were told our N32,000 increment was omitted from both the 2024 and 2025 budgets. This is injustice,” Ogunbote said.
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Mr Adebola Akinduture, former Chairman of the Lagos NUP, stressed that hunger was the main grievance. “We are hungry. Food is medicine, yet without it, medicine is meaningless. Pensioners are starving,” he said.
Both Ogunbote and Akinduture insisted that pensioners would strip and march nationwide on October 6 if the government failed to address their demands.
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