Military pensioners in Nigeria, under the umbrella of the Coalition of Military Pensioners, have protested at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja over the government’s failure to clear their accrued entitlements, which have been owed for 11 months.
It should be recalled that the pensioners, on December 2, threatened to embark on a massive protest today, Thursday, if the government failed to meet their demands.
Col. Innocent Azubuike (retd.), popularly referred to as Nass, one of the leaders of the pensioners’ group, told Investors King that the persistent delay in the payment of their entitlements, despite securing approval for the funds, has left them grappling with the effects of economic hardship.
Azubuike lamented that the government failed to honour its November deadline after 11 months of waiting, forcing the pensioners to “take their fate into their hands.”
According to Azubuike, the protest involves military retirees occupying the Federal Ministry of Finance to demand payment of their entitlements.
Their demands include:
- Payment of palliatives from October 2023 to November 2024.
- Payment of ₦32,000 added to their pensions.
- Bulk payment of the Security Debarment Allowance (SDA).
- Refund of deductions made from the pensions of medically boarded soldiers, among others.
Azubuike added that despite assurances that their entitlements would be cleared in November, they were informed that payments could not be made due to a lack of cash backing.
“We were told approval has been secured for the payment of our entitlements. The only thing remaining is cash backing.
“We were assured that our long-unpaid entitlements would be settled in November. However, November is gone, and there is no indication of when this will happen because it’s a matter with the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF) and not the Ministry of Defence,” he concluded.