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These Pensioners Are Set To Protest Over 96 Months Unpaid Arrears

Published

2 months ago

January 12, 2026

When will we get our money, pensioners in this picture seem to ask. Those of them in Benue State have given the government an ultimatum to pay or await them on the streets

After enduring 96 months unpaid arrears, pensioners in Benue State have decided not to keep quiet again, but to go out in the streets on protest.

They made the resolution under the ambit of the Benue Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP).

They have prepared and forwarded to the government, a notification letter detailing their grouses and giving the state government till January 21 to clear the arrears or they would embark on peaceful protest.

The notification letter was signed by chairman and secretary, Michael Vembe and Saater Bur respectively, and has been forwarded to the state governor, Hyacinth Alia and made available to journalists on Monday.

Included are the pensions arrears and gratuities inherited from the past administration, – 96 months for Local Government Pensioners and 42 months for state pensioners.

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“Out of the above-mentioned number of months of pension arrears, His Excellency directed that 5 months should be paid to all pensioners, but only state pensioners were paid.

“We demand that Local Government pensioners should be paid the five months’ arrears as has been paid to state pensioners without delay.

“That harmonisation of pensions in Benue State should be done as directed by the Federal Government, that, minimum pension rate should be N32,000 and in accordance with the Minimum Wage Act 2024.

They lamented that even as low as N2,000 monthly as it is for some retirees, yet some pensioners in Benue State are not being paid, and that while some retired Permanent Secretaries are receiving as low as N7,000, their counterparts elsewhere are receiving over N300,000 as monthly pension.

“In compliance with the resolution of the Benue State Council of the NUP, it has become inevitable to hereby state categorically that, if by the 21st of January 2026, our demands are not met, we shall have no choice but to mobilize all pensioners including those in the 23 Local Government Areas of the state to Makurdi for a two days peaceful protest.”