The Imo House of Assembly has called on the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to ensure that pensioners are accommodated in the payment of salaries.
The assembly made the call following a motion on adjournment moved by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Ugonna Ozurigbo.
While moving the motion, Ozurigbo, representing Nwangele state constituency, said pensioners had been grossly neglected by NLC and TUC since they started handling the payment of workers’ salaries in the state.
He said many of the pensioners had gone years without receiving their pensions which should be paid promptly every month.
The deputy speaker said that the pensioners should be captured in the payment of salaries, adding that it was the duty of NLC and TUC to see that pensioners were represented.
Ozurigbo described the neglect as “unfair,” as the pensioners had worked and should not be abandoned to suffer in their old age.
Contributing, the member representing Ideato South state constituency, Mr Ikechukwu Amuka, called for attention to be paid to the backlog of unpaid gratuities in the state.
Amuka said that the gratuities of retired civil servants had continued to accumulate over the years.
He said that the lump sums paid as gratuities were meant to enable retirees to take care of themselves after retirement.
The lawmaker suggested that the gratuities should be paid in batches as funds were released for salaries to ensure all entitled retirees were captured.
The Speaker, Mr Iheanacho Ihim, also called on the NLC and TUC to carry out their duty of ensuring that pensions and gratuities were paid.
The house resolved to urge the NLC and TUC to ensure that provision for the payment of pensions was made as soon as funds for salaries were released. (NAN)
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