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Backlogged Unremitted Pension: Former Nation Staff Petition PenCom, Want Fund Paid

Published

5 years ago

October 9, 2020

Former staff of Vintage Press Limited, publishers of The Nation newspapers have petitioned the Director General National Pension Commission (PenCom) over backlog of unremitted pension due to workers.

They want the unremitted funds be paid with the outstanding interests to the workers by The Nation Newspapers.

In a statement signed by Musa Odoshimokhe, former chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, The Nation chapel, said the management had violated the extant laws that sought to protect workers future by ensuring that workers and their employers set part of their earning aside against the rainy day.

He said, “Unfortunately while workers part of the bargain had been deducted from source, the management of The Nation failed to remit such funds to (Pension Fund Administrator (PFA).”

Odoshimokhe, who is a member of the Lagos State Executive Council of NUJ, added that all that should have accrued to workers in term of interests from the unremitted fund had found itself in private pockets at the detriment of workers future savings.

“This petition has the backing of Lagos NUJ because we are talking of workers welfare in the first place. The workers have been cheated over the years because if the money had been remitted as when due it would have be been increased in term of financial gains.

” It has become habitual by The Nation management to hold on to workers contributory pension only to add up the sum of money owed disengaged workers and pay them the money without interests, thereby denying such workers what they should have earned.

“Incidentally, the unremitted fund by management is being used for business without due consideration to how it affects its staff. For instance, the management quickly shed over 100 of its staff away during Covid 19 just a few weeks after the lockdown was announced.

“It is the same company that had lost money close to one billion naira to fraudulent activities without one single person arrested or prosecuted. Most of the perpetrators of the fraudulent activities were recruited into the system by many top management staff, and were granted soft landing after they succeeded in pilfering the company’s resources. There is no guarantee that the trend will end as long as it remain under the command of same structure.

“Our members are demanding for their money with due interests on what was deducted from their legitimate earnings.”

Odoshimokhe also lamented that many of his colleagues who were recently disengaged were only given stipend ranging from between N70,000 to N150,000 as severances packages after putting between five and eight years or more into the system.

“This simply shows that we have a heartless management in the saddle. Many of our remembers were sacked at the peak of Covid-19 pandemic and after about four months were given a pittance. How do you expect such people to restart their lives and even move on? That attests to the poor salary and welfare structure by the management.

“This is place where workers were stagnated or even never get promoted for over 12 years and more simply because management does not like your face.

“All we want now is adequate remittance of our pension with interest accrued paid. Our severance packages is like a drop in the ocean. However, with our pension, many of us can start life again on a new note.”

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Decorates New Service Chiefs

Published

11 hours ago

October 30, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday decorated the new service chiefs with their respective ranks at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The ceremony, which began shortly after 2pm saw the President perform the decoration alongside Vice President Kashim Shettima and the spouses of the decorated officers, each dressed in their respective service uniforms.

Those decorated were General Olufemi Oluyede as the Chief of Defence Staff; Lieutenant-General Wahidi Shaibu as Chief of Army Staff; Air Marshal Kennedy Aneke as Chief of Air Staff; and Vice Admiral Idi Abbas and Chief of Naval Staff.

The Senate had, on Wednesday, confirmed the four nominees after a two-hour closed-door screening session where they were grilled on strategies to strengthen national security and improve coordination among the armed forces.

Tinubu had earlier written the red chamber, seeking an expedited confirmation process “to ensure continuity in the nation’s security leadership.”

It was observed that the ceremony was attended by senior government officials, lawmakers family members of the service chiefs and top officers from the various arms of the military.

The President, Vice President and the officers’ spouses took turns pinning the new ranks on each of the decorated chiefs.

The decoration came barely one week after the Presidency announced a sweeping reshuffle in the military hierarchy.

In the statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, it said the shake-up was part of efforts to inject new direction into the nation’s defence architecture.

The Chief of Defence Intelligence, Major General E. A. P. Undiendeye, retained his position.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, later told our correspondent that the changes were not connected to recent rumours of a coup plot, saying, “The President acted within his authority as Commander-in-Chief. Service chiefs can be hired and fired by the President.”

On Monday, Tinubu had met privately with the new service chiefs at the Villa.

They arrived in a black Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van escorted by a green Toyota Land Cruiser, and the session lasted about 40 minutes.

Presidency sources said the President charged them to take decisive action against insurgents and bandits, particularly in the North.

Last Friday’s reshuffle followed an October 19 report alleging that some officers were plotting to overthrow the government — a claim later dismissed by the Defence Headquarters as “false and mischievous.”

The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Tukur Gusau, said the alleged arrests linked to a coup were “issues of indiscipline” within the ranks, describing the report as “intended to cause unnecessary tension and distrust among the populace.”

News

JUST IN: Eurozone Growth Beats Expectations In Third Quarter

Published

15 hours ago

October 30, 2025

Editor

The eurozone economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of 2025, official data showed Thursday.

The EU’s data agency said the 20-country single currency area recorded growth of 0.2 per cent over the July-September period from the previous quarter.

The figure was higher than the 0.1 per cent forecast by analysts for Bloomberg and FactSet.

More details later…

News

PHOTOS: Police Inspector, Others Die In Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Multiple-truck Crash

Published

16 hours ago

October 30, 2025

Editor

At least four persons were feared dead while several others sustained injuries in a multiple-vehicle crash involving five articulated trucks on Kara Bridge, inward Mowe, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday.

A police inspector attached to the Lagos State Police Command was said to be among the victims.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, who confirmed the incident on Thursday during a visit to the scene, said emergency response teams worked through the early hours to rescue victims and clear the wreckage.

“We have a case of multiple accidents at the border between Ogun and Lagos State. Five vehicles were involved, all articulated vehicles. Precisely, three people have been rescued from the scene of the accident.

“As early as 5 a.m., we have been on it, and we have other agencies here assisting us. We have LASTMA, the Road Safety Corps, and other security agencies,” Ishola said.

He explained that preliminary investigations showed the crash was caused by a trailer that suffered brake failure.

“At the beginning, we have a trailer that failed to brake, and it is important that everybody in charge of their vehicle ensures proper maintenance,” he stated.

The commissioner also confirmed the death of one of his officers who was part of the police advance team deployed to the scene.

“It’s very unfortunate that we lost one of our police inspectors who came with our advance team to salvage the situation,” he said.

Ishola cautioned motorists, particularly drivers of articulated vehicles, against reckless driving, which he described as a leading cause of fatal crashes on highways.

“We want road users, especially those driving articulated vehicles, to stop this kind of recklessness. If they are not reckless in their driving habit, we won’t have this kind of accident,” he warned.

Rescue operations involving the police, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and other agencies were still ongoing as of press time, while efforts to remove the damaged vehicles and restore traffic flow continued.