NICON pensioners decry exclusion from wage award, CPA adjustment

By Abubakar Yunusa

Pensioners under the Association of Former Employees of NICON Insurance (AFENI) have voiced strong dissatisfaction over their exclusion from the revised implementation of the Consequential Pension Adjustment (CPA) and the ₦32,000 wage award approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In a statement jointly signed by Emmanuel Omadivi, Communications Officer, and Ade S. Adesokan, Media Officer for the Lagos Zone, the group described the move by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) as “a gross act of injustice” and a betrayal of national equity.

The pensioners said the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), through a circular dated 8 July 2024, directed the re-implementation of the 2019 CPA using a Grade Level model, replacing the previous Pay Band structure.

While many retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme saw increases ranging from 20 to 28 per cent, pensioners from defunct agencies, particularly NICON Insurance, were excluded. PTAD reportedly claimed that these agencies were not listed within the approved salary structures.

The exclusion, AFENI said, was unjustified. They argued that while NICON Insurance once operated with a super salary structure, the same government that privatised the company placed its retirees on the pension payroll. Therefore, denying them new entitlements now amounts to selective injustice.

“Nigeria’s constitution does not discriminate against pensioners from defunct institutions,” the group insisted, rejecting what they described as “a form of administrative apartheid.”

The group also recalled that NICON Insurance once ran a viable in-house pension scheme worth ₦2.3 billion before its privatisation. That fund, they claim, was misappropriated by the core investor, leaving former staff exposed and under-compensated in retirement.

“The government must not punish us for having served diligently under a federal agency that significantly contributed to the economy,” said Mr Chijioke Nwafor, a member of the association. “This is about dignity, not just money.”

The group noted that many of its members are elderly and in poor health, further exacerbated by stagnant incomes and inflation.

They called on the Federal Government, National Assembly, and the National Human Rights Commission to investigate PTAD’s actions and restore their rights under the CPA and wage award.

Despite their frustration, the pensioners expressed hope that President Tinubu’s administration—credited with welfare-focused reforms—will act swiftly to correct what they term an “unconstitutional and discriminatory” policy.

Highlighting Nigeria’s partnership with Afreximbank, Cardoso described the country as both a founding member and the Bank’s largest single beneficiary.

He noted that Nigeria had received approximately US$52 billion in trade and project financing, reflecting the depth of its engagement with the institution.