Plateau NLC Hails Mutfwang for Clearing Four-Decade Pension Arrears, Restoring Retirees’ Hope

The Plateau State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has praised Governor Caleb Mutfwang for clearing pension arrears dating back to 1986, describing the move as a major step toward improving the welfare of retirees and rebuilding confidence in the state’s pension system.

Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Jos, the state NLC Chairman, Eugene Manji, said the governor’s commitment to the prompt payment of pensions and workers’ salaries had boosted household incomes and stimulated economic activities across Plateau State.

Manji explained that upon assuming office, the Mutfwang administration adopted a systematic approach to settling the long-standing pension backlog by paying retirees according to their year of retirement.

According to him, the strategy has resulted in the clearance of pension arrears accumulated between 1986 and 2012.

“The government decided that the best way to clear the backlog was to make payments based on the year retirees left service. As we speak, pension arrears from 1986 to 2012 have been cleared,” he said.

He noted that the development had restored hope to thousands of retirees who had waited decades to receive their entitlements.

“This approach has rekindled the hope of civil servants who retired more than 40 years ago. The current administration has clearly prioritised the welfare of both serving workers and pensioners,” Manji added.

The labour leader disclosed that the payments involved billions of naira, stressing that the state government had been funding the exercise from its federal allocations, as no dedicated pension fund existed for the outstanding liabilities.

He further described the payment model as transparent and effective, saying it had eliminated many of the bottlenecks that previously delayed pension disbursements.

Manji also revealed that the government had commenced the concurrent payment of pensions to civil servants who retired from 2023 onward while continuing to settle the inherited backlog.

According to him, the dual payment system demonstrates the administration’s determination to prevent the accumulation of fresh pension arrears while addressing the long-standing debt owed to retirees.

The NLC maintained that the reforms had brought greater sanity to the pension administration process and significantly improved the welfare of retired public servants in Plateau State.