Pay gratuities to public employees at retirement — Civil servants

Senior civil servants in the country under the aegis of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, have reiterated their demand for the payment of gratuities to public employees at retirement.

ASCSN contended that no portion  of the Pension Reform Act 2014 as amended remove or forbid the payment of gratuity to workers whether private or public at retirement.

Members of ASCSN in a communique issued at the end of the Association’s 5th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference, NDC, in Lagos, implored the Government to restore payment of gratuity to public service employees that had been denied the benefits in the interest of justice, equity and fairness.

Members of ASCSN from the various organs of the Association such as the Units, Branches and Chapters in the 36 states of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, attended the NDC.

In the communique signed by the new President and confirmed Secretary General, Shehu Mohammed and Joshua Apebo, respectively, said “The Conference-In-Session noted that since the 2004 Pension Reform Act was enacted, public service employees in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, at the Federal level were denied gratuity while their counterparts in other Government Agencies such as Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited NNPCL , Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, etc, as well as those in some state governments and private sector of the economy have continued to receive gratuity in appreciation for services rendered to their organizations. 

“It therefore, implored the Government to restore payment of gratuity to public service employees that had been denied the benefits in the interest of justice, equity and fairness.

“The Conference-In-Session equally stressed the need to include pensioners under the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, in the review of pension increases so that they could benefit from such periodic upward review of pension rates like their colleagues who retired under the Defined Benefit Scheme, DBS, in line with the provisions of Section 173 (3) of the 1999 Constitution which stipulates that “pension shall be reviewed every five years or together with any Federal Civil Salary reviews, whichever is earlier.”

Among others, the communique added “In view of the recent nationwide protests against high cost of living, the Conference-In-Session posited that while the various tiers of Governments were doing their best to address the issues of hunger, poverty, etc, they needed to do more in the areas of providing social amenities such as potable water, affordable housing and medical care, free education, low electricity tariff, affordable food items, transportation, etc, because if these were readily available, life would become more meaningful for most citizens with the meagre incomes at their disposal.”