By FLORENCE ONUEGBU

The Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria has threatened a nationwide naked protest on Oct. 6 if government fails to implement pension increments and palliatives.

The coalition’s National Chairman, Mr. Mukaila Ogunbote, announced this during a news conference on Tuesday in Lagos.

Ogunbote, who also chairs the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NIPOST Chapter, said pensioners had given government until September to settle arrears, increments and palliatives.

He warned that failure to act would leave the pensioners with no choice but to embark on a nationwide naked protest on Oct. 6.

According to him, the protest would symbolically expose government failures and highlight pensioners’ grievances before the public.

Ogunbote recalled that in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu approved N35,000 for workers and N25,000 for pensioners as palliatives.

He said workers received their payment within one month of approval, yet pensioners were still waiting for theirs nearly a year later.

Ogunbote noted that workers had since demanded and received additional palliatives for ten months, while pensioners’ requests for six months’ worth remained unmet.

He said President Tinubu had also directed an increase of N13,000 in pensions, but no implementation had followed from the Ministry of Finance or the Accountant-General.

“When we enquired, we were told our N32,000 increment was omitted from both the 2024 and 2025 budgets. This is injustice,” Ogunbote declared.

Mr. Fashola Oluwo, a retiree from the Federal Ministry of Information, urged questioning of officials who failed to implement the President’s directive.

Oluwo lamented that pensioners still struggled in spite of the increment being inadequate for the rising cost of living in Nigeria.

He said many retirees could not afford essential medication, while some had died waiting for their pension increases.

Another pensioner, Mrs. Dupe Ogunniyi of FRCN, appealed to the First Lady to intervene with the President on behalf of retirees.

She said many pensioners were supporting unemployed graduate children and relied solely on their pensions for survival.

Mr. Adebola Akinduture, former Chairman of the Lagos NUP, stressed that hunger was the central grievance of the retirees.

“We are hungry. Food is medicine, yet without it, medicine is meaningless. Pensioners are starving,” Akinduture said.

He vowed that pensioners would take to the streets naked on Oct. 6 if government ignored their demands. (NAN)

• PHOTO: Middle: Mr. Mukaila Ogunbote, National Chairman, Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria, during a news conference on Tuesday in Lagos