Pensioners in Gombe State have called on the state government to urgently review their monthly pension payments, disclosing that some retirees receive as low as N9,000 despite spending decades in the public service.\n<\/p>\n
Some of the pensioners who spoke to Arewa PUNCH said the low payments had made it increasingly difficult for them to cope with rising costs of food, healthcare, transportation and other basic necessities.\n<\/p>\n
They also appealed to the state government to extend the recent improvements in workers\u2019 earnings to pensioners, arguing that retirees face the same economic realities as serving workers.\n<\/p>\n
One of the pensioners, who pleaded anonymity, said he currently receives only about N8,000 monthly despite spending 16 years in public service before retiring on Grade Level 9.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a little pension contribution from the state government. I collect N8,000 only,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The retired journalist, who said he had worked with the former Bauchi Broadcasting Corporation before moving into other areas of public service and journalism, said his experience was an indication of the difficult conditions facing some retirees in the state.\n<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cAny journalist has a social responsibility to the public. I am saying this because there are pensioners who collect N3,000 or N2,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are paying me N8,000 after retiring on Grade Level 9.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He urged journalists and other stakeholders to investigate the circumstances surrounding the extremely poor pension payments received by some retirees.\n<\/p>\n
Another pensioner, who also requested anonymity, described the financial pressure faced by pensioners as harrowing, saying many could hardly meet their basic needs with their monthly pensions.\n<\/p>\n
The retired senior civil servant, who said he spent 35 years in service, said the cost of living has made the situation particularly difficult for pensioners.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI operate like any other person in the state such as the average farmer, trader, artisan, civil servant or retiree. I go to the same market with them. Market that is saturated with high prices. I go to hospital with high bills for treatment. I go on trips with high transportation costs,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSo much so that one can hardly make do with what is forthcoming as pension.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
He said pensioners were also confronted by several competing financial obligations, including school fees, healthcare expenses and other family responsibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to contend with competing challenges: school fees, health bills and other commitments,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The pensioner called for improvements and upward review in pension payments, saying this would be a welcome development for many of them who are already in distressed, noting that retirees were constantly struggling to cope with the changing economic circumstances.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I am faced with an increase, why not? I am always going cap in hand, looking for enhancement in my fortune,\u201d he cried out.\n<\/p>\n
He said pensioners deserved consideration whenever governments reviewed workers\u2019 salaries and allowances because they were equally affected by inflation and rising prices.\n<\/p>\n
The Deputy Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Gombe State chapter, Robert John, also appealed to the state government to increase the monthly pension of retirees.\n<\/p>\n
John commended the administration of Governor Muhammadu Yahaya for what he described as efforts towards addressing pensioners\u2019 concerns, particularly the payment of gratuities.\n<\/p>\n
However, he said the union is pleading with the government to increase the monthly pensions of retirees in view of the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are requesting an increment of the monthly pension because the salary of workers has been increased. We are moving in the same market and buying from the same market,\u201d John said.\n<\/p>\n
He confirmed that some pensioners were still receiving as little as N9,000 monthly, a situation he described as inadequate to meet basic needs. <\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost all the rest of our members are collecting N9,000 per month as pension. N9,000 cannot do anything. You talk about sickness, you talk about school fees, you talk about many things. How can N9,000 do anything?\u201d he asked.\n<\/p>\n
John stressed that pensioners were particularly concerned about the disparity between the income of serving workers and that of retirees, insisting that both groups were affected by the same economic conditions.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you buy Maggi for N100, pensioners also buy Maggi for N100. The person who is collecting N70,000 and the person who is collecting N9,000, you cannot compare them. They cannot be the same,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
The union official also acknowledged steps taken by the Yahaya administration regarding gratuity payments, saying the development had provided some relief to retirees.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor is trying on the matter concerning our gratuity. If the former governor had done what this governor has done on the gratuity, we would not have had the problem of gratuity. It would have been over,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Thus, he appealed to the Governor Yahaya to extend the upward review intervention to monthly pension payments.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mandate now is that we are begging the governor to increase our pension, either this month or next month,\u201d John said.\n<\/p>\n
A former pensioners\u2019 union leader, Lewi Jinjiri, while expressing concern over what he described as the poor welfare of retirees in the state, said, \u201cGombe pensioners receive the least in terms of payment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Jinjiri further disclosed that some pensioners in Gombe were receiving significantly lower monthly payments than retirees in neighbouring states.\n<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cIt is seriously unfortunate. We are very loyal to the present government, but seriously, there is no leadership in the pensioners\u2019 union because they should take our complaint.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government has never taken care of our welfare as pensioners in Gombe State.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
According to him, some pensioners in the state receive as little as N9,000 monthly, despite having spent several years in public service.\u201d<\/p>\n
He maintained that the situation had become more troubling because of the increase in the cost of living and the disparity between pension payments in Gombe and those in some other states.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the least in payment. A pensioner in Gombe collects N9,000. That is the least in the payment,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
Jinjiri explained that the pension rate had previously been lower before an increase under a previous administration.\n<\/p>\n
He noted, \u201cFormerly, it was N4,000 under the last administration, but it was increased recently during Yahaya\u2019s tenure.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Equally, the ex-pensioners\u2019 union boss called for the implementation of pension increases in line with prevailing national wage and pension reforms.\n<\/p>\n
According to him, several neighbouring states have reviewed their pension payments, leaving Gombe pensioners worried about their relatively low earnings.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOur neighbouring states have increased their pension payments. States like Sokoto, Katsina and the rest have increased to N32,000, but not Gombe,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n
Jinjiri urged the state government to urgently examine the pension structure and welfare of retirees, arguing that pensioners who spent decades serving the state should not be left struggling to meet basic needs after retirement.\n<\/p>\n
Arewa PUNCH reports that the pensioners\u2019 concerns come amid broader economic pressures, with food, healthcare and transportation costs continuing to affect households across the country.\n<\/p>\n
Reliable sources who volunteered information also disclosed that both the local and state governments in Gombe State have no fewer than 50,000 retirees, underscoring the scale of the pension and welfare concerns confronting retired workers in the state.\n<\/p>\n
Attempts to get reactions from the Gombe State Commissioner for Information, Moses Kyari, via text messages and phone calls proved abortive as he did not respond as of press time.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pensioners in Gombe State have called on the state government to urgently review their monthly pension payments, disclosing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,3363,4176,241379,241380,114068,241381,240563,240564,241382,1447,4174,4175,13331,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-730240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-finance","tag-gombe-government","tag-gombe-state","tag-gratuity","tag-monthly-pay","tag-nigeria-union-of-pensioners","tag-pension-review","tag-pension-welfare","tag-pensioners","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-retirees","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}