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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the  Federal Government’s expenditure on pensions and gratuity dropped slightly by N3.48bn in 2021.

According to apex bank in its data on ‘Federal Government recurrent expenditure,  the amount spent dropped from N359.6bn in 2020 to N356.12bn in the 2021 financial year. Despite yearly allocations, the federal retirees have continued to complain of payment challenges. Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate in charge of the Defined Benefits Scheme under the Federal Government, had earlier said it inherited pension liabilities totalling N129.48bn.

During a capacity workshop where a presentation titled ‘Parastatals Pension Department’ was delivered, it said PTAD inherited an estimated amount of N32.77bn, N28.96bn and N67.75bn owed pensioners of the Treasury Funded Parastatal, Ex-PHCN and defunct agencies respectively.

The directorate, however, said it had cleared almost all the pension liabilities and was ensuring that all outstanding arrears were taken care of. Recently, some retirees under the Federal Civil Service Pensions, Lagos State branch, protested non-payment of pensions among other challenges.

In a protest letter jointly signed by the Chairman, FCSP, Otunba Lawal, and State Secretary, Abiodun Michael, the retirees said, “Since September 2017 verification exercise, countless number of pensioners are yet to be on PTAD payroll till present.”