Obi Laments Retirees’ Plight Over Non Payment Of Entitlements, Blames Greed, Calls Govt “Wicked”

By Ayodele Oni

The 2023 Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has said greed and insatiable desperation for material acquisition, has made the Federal Government to delay the payment of pensions and gratuities to retirees.

He pointedly said that any Government that withholds the pensions and gratuities of senior citizens in their vulnerable years is wicked.

Obi, in a statement on Sunday, said that many elderly citizens who had dedicated their energies and time to the service of Nigeria are now left to struggle to meet their basic needs.

He noted that following the unwarranted delay in the payment of retirees, they are finding it difficult to access healthcare as the retirees have not received their entitlements.

Obi particularly shared a touching experience he had with a retired civil servant in Nsukka, Enugu State, saying that when he visited Shanahan College of Nursing Sciences, he noticed an elderly woman trying to speak with him.

“Although people around attempted to silence her, I insisted on hearing her out. The woman introduced herself as a retired civil servant who had dedicated her working years to serving the country.

“She told me that she had not received her pension for some time. Even more heartbreaking was the fact that she had been hospitalized for over a week without any money to pay for food, let alone medical bills.

“I felt a surge of anger and pity. Anger at leaders like me, who, out of greed and insatiable desperation for material acquisition, have made life a living hell for others by denying them the fruits of their labor.

“And then pity for the poor elderly woman, and many others like her whose painful stories may never be heard.”

Obi tasked the federal government to accord the retirees’ welfare priority attention, stressing that need for compassion and humanity in leadership.

He said that he gave the woman some financial support and promised to follow up on her case with the hospital, adding however, that he has deep concern for the countless others suffering in silence across the country.

“I have said it before, and I still maintain, that any government that withholds the pensions and gratuities of our senior citizens in their vulnerable years is wicked.

“As a Governor, I inherited and paid off over ₦30 billion in pensions and gratuities accumulated over the years, because I understood the pain the elderly citizens were going through.

“We must fix this nation. Nigeria must work for all, and everyone will get their due rewards for their productive contributions.”