A former Osun State lawmaker, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to look into the plights of contributory pensioners in the country.
Oyintiloye, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the appeal in a statement sent to LEADERSHIP on Tuesday in Osogbo, the state capital.
The APC chieftain said delayed or non-payment of pensions, inadequate funding, and corruption within the pension scheme has led to hardship and financial stress for pensioners.
Oyintiloye said that since 2004 when the Federal Government enacted the Pensions Reform Act(PRA 2004) which introduced the contributory pension scheme, pensioners had not been treated fairly, especially by previous administrations in the country.
He lamented that many pensioners were still unable to access their gratuity years after retirement while many senior citizens are often paid between 25 and 50 per cent of the lump sum after retirement.
The APC chieftain expressed concerns that many civil servants who had served the government in their prime would end up being subjected to untold hardship and poverty after retirement, due to delay or non-payment of retirement benefits due to them by government.
“I want to appeal with the president to look into the plights of pensioners under the contributory pension scheme. The 2004 pension act should be reviewed to enable pensioners to live a decent life after retirement.
“Due to poor or delay in payment of retirement benefits, many retirees cannot afford a decent meal, good health care, good housing, among others after exiting service. These are the people that served the country in their prime,” Oyintiloye said.
He commended Tinubu for approving N758 billion bond in February to clear 16 years of pension liabilities, and noted that more still needed to be done to save pensioners from poverty ravaging them after retirement leading to sickness and untimely death.
Oyintiloye urged the president to work with the National Assembly to review the 2004 Pensions Reform Act to enable pensioners to withdraw all their retirement savings immediately after exiting service and have access to free health care once they reach 65 years
“After retirement due to advance age, many of these pensioners are already suffering ailments and yet they can’t avoid medication because they don’t have enough money. Even as retirees, many of these senior citizens still have many people depending on them,” he noted.
According to him, doing that would enable retired persons to take care of their needs, venture into any business of their wish, rather than live on monthly pension that may be insufficient.
He feared that the hardship experienced by ex-workers after retirement may impact negatively on the morale of those still in service which the possibility to lure them to indulge in corruption.
“That is why I am pleading with President Bola Tinubu to intervene. He has shown that he is a leader with capacity to solve problems. His intervention will go a long way in bringing relief to these people and hope for those who are still in active service”, he said.
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