Majeed (left) and Adone
No fewer than 200 pensioners under the aegis of the National Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research Pension Union have accused the Industrial and General Insurance Pension Fund Managers Limited of withholding their monthly pensions.
They also alleged that another N65m, which was the accumulation of the periodical increase on their pensions in 2013, had not been paid by firm.
A member of the union, Mr. Afinowi Majeed, told our reporter that the union’s predicament began in 2012.
He said, “In 2012, the managers withheld our pension for four months – from September to December. After several futile attempts to get them to make payment, we took the matter to the Office of the Public Defender.
“In March, we had a meeting with IGIPFM in OPD’s office and they signed a memorandum of understanding to pay our pensions as and when due.”
Our reporter learnt that the pension managers eventually paid the arrears, but again defaulted on other agreement reached.
The pensioners said presently, they had yet to receive their January pension, adding that the pension for December 2013 was only recently paid.
Majeed said, “This delay in the payment of our pension is not from the government; the IGIPFM gets our money as and when due. In fact, the government always pays pensions after paying workers’ salaries. The Federal Government increases pensions anytime there is salary increase. This was done last year, but we have yet to receive that increase and it amounts to N65m.”
Another pensioner, Mr. Awonuga John, said, “Before we could get our December pension paid, we had to make several trips to IGIPFM’s office.”
Chairman of the NIOMR Pension Union, Mr. Francis Adone, said, “We have already lost about five of our members simply because they do not have the money to get medical attention. Three others have been sick for the past two years and still, they do not have money for medical attention.”
When our reporter contacted the spokesperson for IGIPFM, Mr. Steve Ilo, he said, “This is not correct. NIOMR pensioners were paid up to December 2013 even when we had not received cash backing from the Federal Government for December.”
He was, however, silent on the N65m increase on pensions in 2013.
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