The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pensioners have praised the Federal Government for showing strong leadership by signing an important agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
They said resolving a problem that started in 2009 proves that the government can solve long-standing disputes through honest talks, dialogue, and keeping to agreements.
Encouraged by this development, the pensioners asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to instruct the CBN to take similar steps to settle the 26-year-old pension dispute involving retired CBN workers.
In a statement signed by David Edogiawerie and Samuel Ehigie Isokpunwu, the pensioners explained that the issue began in 1997. This was after the Federal Government introduced a policy to harmonise pensions. The policy aimed to ensure that workers who retired at the same grade level and with the same years of service would receive the same pension, even if they retired on different dates.
They said the matter went to court, leading to a Federal High Court judgment in May 2000 and later a Supreme Court judgment in May 2010.
The pensioners complained that despite these court rulings, the CBN has continued to engage them in long legal battles. They also alleged cases of intimidation and unfair actions while the case is still before the courts.
They appealed to the Federal Government, which they described as fair and worker-friendly, to treat CBN pensioners with the same spirit of dialogue and fairness shown in resolving the ASUU issue.
They asked for a peaceful, timely, and just solution to their long-standing pension problem.
