Pensioners in Niger State disrupted the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected Local Government Council chairmen due to the state government’s failure to pay pensions and gratuities for more than seven years.
They barricaded the main entrance to the Government House in Minna, the ceremony’s venue, preventing guests from entering or leaving while brandishing placards with various inscriptions.
Mallam Abubakar Abdullahi, a pensioner, told reporters that the government’s actions were wicked and insensitive to the plight of the state’s pensioners.
He stated, “This government is wicked; how can you owe people for seven years and still have the mind to be living as if nothing is wrong? We are aware that they junket [about] the country in private jets while we are wallowing in abject poverty and suffering.”
The pensioners who were dissatisfied accused the government of mismanaging funds released by the federal government to the state, which could have been used to clear the backlog of pensions and gratuities as well as alleviate the hardship felt by the people of the state.
“The government has refused to keep to the numerous promises it had made to us in the past. There is not a single promise they made to us that was met. Many of us are dying from treatable diseases due to lack of funds to pay medical bills and our children are unable to return to school,” he maintained.
However, it took the intervention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Umar Bago, who was unable to gain access to the venue due to the blockage caused by the protesting Pensioners, to defuse the situation.
He begged them to put down their swords, promising that if he were elected governor of the state in 2023, their issue would be given top priority, and asked them to report to the UK Bello Theater and wait for him.
The pensioners, who arrived at the Government House gate armed with mats, pillows, buckets, and other personal belongings to occupy the entrance until their issue was resolved, were later relocated to the same location to await the APC candidate.
