We Won't Take Excuses for Non-payment of Pensions says Dogara

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has urged the Executive arm of government to clear the backlog of pension ar­rears because the National As­sembly will not take any excuse for failure
Dogara stated this on Thurs­day after the Minister of Fi­nance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and the Minister of Budget and Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, briefed the House on efforts be­ing made to offset the arrears owed to Nigerian pensioners.

The Speaker said that he was confident of the promise made by President Muhammadu Bu­hari that issues surrounding non-payment of pensions to re­tired federal civil servants would be addressed.
He said: “We will not accept any excuse that leaves part of these pension funds hanging. When the President made a commitment that he was going to release money for bailout to states so that they can pay back­log of salaries and pensions he did it.
“I don’t know where you got the money to bail out the states, wherever you got the money from, that is where we are go­ing to get the money to solve this problem. I want to believe this will be the last intervention we will be having with regards to the issue of pensions in this country. That is my charge.
“The message the House will be sending to the President through the ministers is, when you meet him to brief him about this engagement, just tell him that we have taken his words to the bank and we believe that we would cash it,” he said.
Earlier, Udom Udoma stated that the present administration has as its priority the payment of salaries and pensions.
He said that the backlog in pension payment arose from the need to reconcile the figures em­anating from the Pension Com­mission and PTAD.
Adeosun said that the N42bil­liion released on Wednesday was fully cash backed for instant payment.
She appealed to the National Assembly to give the commit­tee set up by the President on pension matter under her chair­manship to do a thorough job and refer back to the Legislature.