Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Kaduna has resolved the lingering dispute between the Kaduna Pension Bureau and the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) over money deduction and post-retirement training.
The commission upon receipt of complaint from the union, summoned all parties involved and listened to all issues of contention and amicably resolved all the issues accordingly.
Speaking to newsmen at the end of the public siting involving all parties, the federal commissioner, PCC, Kaduna, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba Abbas also disclosed that the commission received 33,000 cases of administrative injustices among others from 2021-2023 and as so far dispensed over 32000 of the cases leaving only about 705 cases pending.
Earlier, during the hearing, secretary, Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) Kaduna State chapter, Comrade Alhassan Balarabe Musa told the commission that it was against the labour law for pension bureau to engage retirees/ pensioners for post-retirement training and deducting their pension without their consent.
Musa said labour law only allowed pre-retirement training for intending pensioners three years preceding retirement date.
However, the executive secretary, Pension Bureau, Kaduna State, Prof. Salamatu Idris Isah, told the commission that the pensioners union officials met with the state government, agreed and embarked on the post training for its members.
Isah displayed before the commission financial implication and agreement reached between the state government and the pensioners which resulted in the post-training at Kaduna Business School (KBS).
He wondered why the union would turn back and deny such arrangements when the training had been held for three batches, remaining the fourth batch to be held.
But NUP secretary, Musa insisted, saying, “We were made to embark on post training under duress by the state government. Where is the strength to do the training after retirement, when many of us are getting to 70 years of age, waiting for our children to take care of us. We expect pre-retirement training, that is, three years to our retirement date”.
However, the federal commissioner was able to settle the rift between the bureau and pensioners, saying that, “the status quo remains regarding the post-training of the pensioners based on the commission’s resolutions and recommendations to the state government”.
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