The Federal Government on Wednesday said it had cleared inherited arrears of accrued pension benefits for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 by releasing N41.5bn to the National Pension Commission for onward payment to the retirees.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, made the disclosure in a statement from the ministry, signed by the Director of Information, Salisu Dambatta.
The statement quoted her to have said; "The federal government was concerned about the plight of pensioners who retired under the Contributory Pension Scheme without being paid.
“Despite conflicting demands for available cash, President Muhammadu Buhari has always expressed concern about the plight of workers and pensioners.
“Consistent with this, we have released N41.5bn which clears the arrears inherited from the previous administration relating to the period 2013-2015 and underpayments in 2016.
"The sum of N12.5bn being outstanding for January, February and March 2017 has also been settled based on 2016 appropriation, bringing the total amount to about N54bn.
“This will bring relief to thousands of our elders who have served and deserve to be paid their entitlements promptly and fully.
“The amount we paid includes arrears and the impact is that those who retired as far back as 2013, who had been unable to access pension under the contributory scheme due to non-payment, will now be paid.”
The Finance minister also added that henceforth the monthly allocation to the PENCOM based on the appropriation of 2017 will regularly be paid along with monthly salaries of Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
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