Why we’re unable to pay pensioners on time —FG

THE Federal Government on Thursday explained that paucity of funds was responsible for its inability to pay the pensioners on time.

The Federal Government noted that half of the projected revenue in the 2017 budget was for salaries and pensions, while funds to pay were not available.

The Federal Government’s position was made known by Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma and Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, during an interactive session with members of the House of Representatives at the plenary.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma to tackle the issue facing the pensioners a committee headed by Minister of Finance had been set up  to reconcile the actual figures, stressing that, the government would have to look for ways for creating funds to pay pension arrears.

According to Senator Udoma, “I ask for your understanding. In the 2017 budget, about half of our total projected revenues are for salaries and pensions but the resources are not there.

“The president is extremely concerned about this. He observed the hearings that you had before and has directed that we must get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible and that committee headed by the minister of finance should meet with all the relevant agencies and reconcile numbers.”

The Minister of Finance, while addressing the lawmakers, said that the delay was as a result of paucity of funds, saying that, the problem was that according to law pensioners could not access their consolidated funds if appropriation is less than what is accrued.

According to her, “this is a welcome initiative. The issue of pensions isn’t a money issue, it’s a people issue. This is not a FG problem. There is also a problem in the states as most struggle with pension and gratuities

“The law says that the pension can’t be consolidated before the holder of a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) can access retirement fund. They cannot access funds until government accrued pension rights and if appropriation is less than what is accrued, then we will have a problem

“The big issue is under appropriation. I’m not sure it can be sorted out in one year, but it must be addressed.”

Meanwhile, the Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has urged the executive to ensure that all backlog of pension payments were made promptly, adding that no excuse will be accepted for failure to do so.

The Speaker in brief remarks after the ministers’ presentations said he was confident of the promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari that issues surrounding non-payment of pensions to retired Federal civil servants would be addressed with dispatch.

The Speaker recalled that when President Buhari made a promise to provide bailout funds to states for payment of backlog of salaries, he endured that it was done.

According to him, “we will not accept any excuse that leaves part of this pension funds hanging. When the President made a commitment that he was going to release money for bailout to States so that they can pay backlog of salaries and pensions, it happened, even though we were in the midst of a very biting recession. Now the President has said this issue of pension must be solved

“I don’t know where you got the money to bail out the states from, wherever you got the money from that is where we are going to get the money to solve this problem. And for the ministers who are representatives of the president, I believe you won’t make him (Buhari) break his words because his words are cherished. I want to believe this will be the last intervention we will be having with regards to the issue of pensions in this country. That is my charge.

“The message the House will be sending to the President through the Ministers is, when you meet him to brief him about this engagement, just tell him that we have taken his words to the bank and we believe that we will cash it,” the speaker stated