Retirees in Cross River State are receiving as little as N4,000 in monthly pensions, with their association appealing for urgent intervention to address unpaid gratuities and harmonise pension payments.
The Chairman of the Cross River State chapter of the National Association of Retirees of State Government of Nigeria (NARSGON), Comrade Daniel Bassey Effiom, made the appeal in a message to the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Christopher Etta.
Effiom urged Etta to prevail on Governor Bassey Otu to urgently release outstanding gratuities and address the disparity in pension payments across the state.
He lamented that many retirees were struggling to survive on monthly pensions of N4,000, N5,000 and N6,000.
“Our members are really suffering in Cross River State. Some are earning N4,000, N5,000, N6,000, etc., as monthly pensions.
“What can such monies do for a living human being? There’s so much hunger and sickness. And many are dying undeserved deaths every day,” he said.
According to him, some retirees have died because they could not afford drugs and other basic necessities, while others continue to wait for their entitlements.
“We need our entitlements urgently, please,” Effiom appealed, stressing that retirees should not be treated as “spent forces” because they remained relevant to the state.
He said his appeal followed unsuccessful attempts to reach the APC chairman by telephone, adding that he believed Etta could use his position to draw the governor’s attention to the plight of pensioners.
The NARSGON chairman also reminded the APC chairman that retirees constitute a significant voting bloc in the state and have dependants who could be influenced during elections.
Meanwhile, Governor Otu has assured retirees that his administration is making arrangements for the release of another tranche of gratuity payments before December 2026.
Otu gave the assurance while receiving a delegation of elders led by retired Colonel Pam Ogar, former military administrator of Kwara State. He expressed appreciation for their visit, counsel and endorsement of his administration.
The governor said he felt “a very heavy burden” sitting before the elders because of the sacrifices they had made in building the state.
“When I look at the faces here, I see people who have reached the peak in their different professions and who have had experiences which we still need in terms of nation-building and state-building,” he said.
Otu said his administration remained sensitive to the plight of retirees and was committed to progressively clearing the backlog of their outstanding benefits.
He also described the experience and wisdom of the elders as invaluable assets to the state, saying Cross River was privileged to have a reservoir of people whose knowledge could guide the present generation in state-building.
