By JOAN NWAGWU

The Federal Civil Service Pensioners Branch (FCSPB) has called for the immediate payment of the N25, 000 wage award as promised by the Federal Government.

Mr Sunday Omezi, President of the association made the request at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

Omezi added that if the federal government failed to honour its promises, pensioners might be forced to embark on streets protest.

“It is pathetic and disappointing to bring to the fore, the non-payment of the N25,000 wage award promised by the Federal government since August 2023.

“It is rather distasteful that till date, no single payment has been made to pensioners.

“We are hereby demanding immediate payment of the award, because it is so embarrassing,” he said.

The FCSPB President also called on government to revisit the 2015 outstanding pension review.

Omezi said that the review was imperative as its usual five-year cycle was long overdue.

He said that whenever the new national minimum wage has been reviewed, the review of the outstanding pension should be done alongside as stated in 1999 Constitution.

“Pension is a constitutional right and privilege of the beneficiary, which is also the reason it is enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Section 173, subsections 1-4.

“The provisions are explicit enough, that it should not be subjected to misinterpretation, or uneven application.

“In consideration of the foregoing, we therefore request for a revisit to the 2015 outstanding pension review, which appears to have been skipped,” he said.

Omezi also alleged that pensioners had been persistently shut out of government’s policies and programmes.

He further alleged that pensioners were being treated with disdain, to the extent that matters concerning them were considered inconsequential.

Omezi appealed to the government to live up to its responsibilities by ensuring that “the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain,” and treating pensioners fairly. (NAN)

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