No fewer than 20 retired senior public officers in Kaduna State, including former Permanent Secretaries, Secretaries to the State Government and Heads of Service, have died without receiving their retirement entitlements, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners has said.

The Secretary of the NUP, Kaduna State chapter, Alhassan Balarabe Musa, disclosed this to PUNCH Online in Kaduna on Tuesday.

Musa said the deaths occurred amid prolonged delays in the payment of pensions and gratuities owed to retirees and disengaged workers by the state government.

According to him, pensioners and affected former workers had entered 2025 with optimism that the government would address the lingering issue of unpaid entitlements.

“We thought 2025 would be a year of hope and celebration for pensioners and those who lost their jobs in Kaduna State. But as the year progresses, that hope is gradually fading,” Musa said.

He alleged that despite court judgments ordering the payment of outstanding benefits, several senior former officials died without accessing their entitlements.

“About 20 people among former Permanent Secretaries, Secretaries to the State Government and Heads of Service passed on without receiving their entitlements, even though there were court orders in their favour,” he said.

Musa further lamented that Kaduna State had yet to implement the N32,000 pension increase for retirees under the Defined Benefits Scheme.

He said the union had expected the state to be among the first to implement the increase, noting that the delay had compounded the hardship faced by pensioners.

“We thought the governor would be among the first three to implement the N32,000 pension increase for those under the Defined Benefits Scheme, but our dream is dying slowly,” he added.

The NUP secretary appealed to Governor Uba Sani to urgently intervene, describing the situation of pensioners as dire and emotionally distressing.

“Our people are dying in silence. They are voiceless, helpless and hopeless. We are appealing to the governor to have mercy on them and act swiftly,” Musa said.

He also drew attention to the plight of retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme, many of whom he said were unable to access their benefits.

“Most of our contributory pensioners are also suffering in silence. Their tears are drying up, and the pain is now being borne by the heart because the body can no longer absorb the shock,” he stated.

Musa said many retirees depend solely on their pensions for survival, adding that delays in payment had affected access to food, healthcare and shelter.

Kaduna State has, in recent years, faced repeated complaints from labour unions and pensioners over delays in pension payments and the treatment of disengaged workers.

Although the state government has previously announced reforms aimed at sanitising the pension system and clearing arrears, pensioners insist that many retirees have yet to feel the impact of those measures.

Musa urged the government to treat pension payments as a legal and moral obligation, warning that continued delay would worsen the suffering of elderly citizens. (PUNCH)

Update news