NUP protests exclusion from FG’s N70,000 transport allowance

The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has protested the exclusion of retired workers from the Federal Government’s newly approved N70,000 monthly transport allowance for serving public servants, demanding urgent presidential intervention to ensure that pensioners are not left out of welfare measures designed to cushion the effects of economic hardship.

The union also lamented the non-payment of the N25,000 monthly palliative promised to vulnerable households, including eligible pensioners, under the October 2023 agreement between the Federal Government and organised labour. It demanded the release of the outstanding N75,000 relief per beneficiary for the three-month period.

The NUP, which described the exclusion of pensioners from the transport allowance as unjust, argued that retired workers face similar, if not more difficult, economic circumstances than serving public servants, particularly as many depend solely on inadequate monthly pensions to survive.

The National President of the union, Comrade Godwin Abumisi, stated this in a press statement dated October 28, 2026, which was read to journalists in Abuja by the National Deputy President, Comrade Usman Abdullahi Onuh.

Abumisi said the union recognised the importance of improving the welfare of serving workers but insisted that pensioners, who devoted their productive years to national service, should not be neglected in government interventions aimed at easing the rising cost of living.

According to him, pensioners also rely on public transportation to access hospitals, attend medical appointments, purchase food and other essential items, and participate in everyday economic activities.

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He noted that many retired workers had no other source of income beyond their pensions, which were often inadequate to meet their basic needs amid rising transportation, healthcare and food costs.

“The Union therefore questions the rationale for excluding retirees from the transport allowance when they face similar, and in many cases more difficult, economic circumstances than their counterparts still in service,” he said.

The NUP president maintained that the welfare of serving workers and pensioners should not be treated as competing interests, stressing that both groups deserved fair consideration in government policies designed to ease economic hardship.

He also expressed concern over what he described as the failure of those who negotiated the transport allowance on behalf of serving workers to adequately consider the interests of their retired colleagues.

The union questioned why representatives of workers in active service did not press for corresponding relief for pensioners, many of whom had spent decades contributing to the public service before retirement.

Abumisi described the situation as reflecting the “insensitivity of civil servants to the plight of their former colleagues, now retired, who they will eventually join in the retirement ship.”

He urged organised labour and other stakeholders to recognise that retirement was an eventual reality for every serving worker and that protecting pensioners’ welfare was also an investment in the future security of those still in employment.

Three years after palliative agreement

The union also raised concerns over the failure to implement the Federal Government’s commitment to provide N25,000 in monthly relief for three months, beginning in October 2023, to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.

The commitment was contained in paragraph eight of the October 2, 2023, Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).

Under the agreement, the government committed to paying N25,000 monthly for three months, amounting to N75,000 for each eligible beneficiary over the period.

More than three years after the agreement, the NUP demanded an explanation for the failure to deliver the promised support to eligible vulnerable pensioners covered by the arrangement.

Abumisi specifically called on the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, under the leadership of Dr Bernard M. Doro, to explain the steps taken to implement the commitment, identify the obstacles preventing payment and provide a definite timeline for resolving the matter.

He insisted that an agreement reached between the Federal Government and organised labour should not be allowed to remain an unfulfilled promise, particularly when it concerned vulnerable citizens grappling with the economic consequences of petrol subsidy removal.

Demands presidential intervention

Consequently, the NUP called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene urgently and ensure that pensioners received fair and equitable consideration in government welfare policies.

The union demanded the immediate reconsideration of pensioners’ exclusion from the N70,000 monthly transport allowance, urging the Federal Government to extend the benefit to eligible retirees or introduce an equivalent support measure to address their transportation costs.

It also called for urgent clarification and implementation of the October 2023 palliative agreement, including payment of the total N75,000 relief to eligible vulnerable pensioners covered by the arrangement.

The union further demanded a clear implementation timeline from the Federal Government and accountability from the ministries and agencies responsible for delivering the promised relief.

It called for meaningful consultation with pensioners’ representatives whenever the Federal Government and organised labour negotiated welfare measures that could affect retirees, insisting that their interests must not be overlooked.

The NUP also demanded sustained protection of pensioners’ welfare through timely payment of pensions and other entitlements, alongside appropriate measures to cushion the effects of inflation and rising transportation, healthcare and food costs.

Reaffirming the union’s commitment to protecting retired workers, Abumisi said those who had served the country faithfully deserved to have their dignity and welfare safeguarded in retirement.

He appealed to President Tinubu to act promptly on the demands and demonstrate through concrete action that pensioners remained valued members of Nigerian society.

The union, however, warned that it would continue to pursue all legitimate and lawful avenues to secure the rights and welfare of its members if the government failed to address its concerns.