The Association of Former Employees of NICON Insurance (AFENI) pensioners has expressed concern over what it described as an unjust and systematic exclusion of its members from recent pension adjustments and wage awards approved by the federal government.
In a statement signed by Emmanuel Omadivi, Communications Officer, and Ade Adesokan, Media Officer of the Lagos Zone, the pensioners decried their omission from the implementation of the 2019 Consequential Pension Adjustment (CPA), the N32,000 wage award approved by President Bola Tinubu, and other statutory entitlements.
According to them, their exclusion, carried out by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), follows a circular from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) dated July 8, 2024 (Ref: SWC/S/04/S.557/T/171).
The directive, the pensioners said, restructured the 2019 CPA for pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme using the Grade Level model, replacing the previously used Pay Band structure.
While the adjustment yielded pension increases ranging from 20 percent to 28 percent for many retirees, pensioners from defunct government-owned entities, including NICON Insurance were reportedly excluded entirely on the grounds that their former agencies do not align with listed salary structures.
AFENI pensioners contested this reasoning, asserting that such a decision not only defies the spirit of equity and national inclusion but also lacks constitutional basis.
They argue that the same government that privatised NICON Insurance and other parastatals also placed their pensioners on the public payroll and that there is no lawful justification for denying them benefits afforded to their peers.
“The government cannot discriminate against pensioners simply because the agencies they worked for were privatised.
These institutions, including NICON Insurance, were once major contributors to the national economy and federal investments, entities like NAL, Daily Times, and the former NICON Hilton (now Transcorp Hilton),” the statement reads in parts.
The pensioners also recalled that NICON Insurance had an internal pension scheme worth N2.3 billion at the time of privatisation, but the fund was reportedly taken over by the core investor.
They believe that if the fund had been properly invested or retained, it would have sustained pension payments today.
“This is not only financially unjust but morally indefensible, we are talking about elderly citizens, many with pressing health challenges, who served their country faithfully but are now made to suffer under an unfair system”, said Chijioke Nwafor, a member of the association.
AFENI appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene.
They also called on the National Assembly and the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the circumstances surrounding PTAD’s exclusionary implementation.
