19th March, 2012
Ex-servicemen have once again appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to pay them the 53 percent of their pension arrears which was seized in 2003 during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
The ex-servicemen who spoke with P.M.NEWS at the end of the recent verification exercise of retired military men at the Ikeja military cantonment in Lagos said the total sum of N32 billion was accruable to the pensioners.
They appealed to President Jonathan to pay the 53 percent pension arrears so that his promise to pay will not be seen as fooling the military retirees.
One of them, retired Master Warrant Officer Muyiwa Alabi commended the just concluded verification exercise but suggested that retirees should be compensated with transport fare and lunch money. Alabi said he had to find his way to Ikeja from his Iyana Ilogbo residence in Ado Odo-Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State.
He also called on the government not to sweep the unpaid 53 percent pension arrears under the carpet. “Government should pay us this money because we are entitled to it,” he added.
Another retiree, Johnson Adebayo who retired as a Lance Corporal in the Nigerian Army also commended this year’s verification exercise. He appealed to President Jonathan not to delay further the payment of the 53 percent pension arrears.
He recalled that the money was seized in 2003, stressing that continued delay of its payment could be suicidal to retirees who are already old while some had died.
Also, the Deputy Commandant-General and Chairman of Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Legion, Colonel Femi Oguntade (retd.) described the last verification exercise of retired military men in Ikeja as commendable.
He appealed to President Jonathan to remember military pensioners in good time and compensate them for their meritorious service to their fatherland.
“Some of them fought gallantly in the civil war to defend Nigeria’s sovereignty and unity,” he stated.