Communication lapse responsible for retired soldiers’ protest – Pensions Board
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By Kingsley Omonobi
The Military Pensions Board, MPB, on Monday night, pointed at a lapse in communication as the reason for the protest by retired soldiers, which disrupted work at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, earlier in the day.
Read Also: Photos: Retired soldiers barricade Finance Ministry over unpaid benefits
Spokesman of MPB, Squadron Leader Ahmed Mohammed, disclosed that the demonstration originated as a result of a communication gap between relevant authorities and the aggrieved retirees.
He said some of the grievances raised by the protesting ex-servicemen were beyond the statutory mandate of the Military Pensions Board.
He added that budgetary limitations made the MPB unable to meet the protesters demands.
“For instance, the issue of parking allowances has to do with the respective services. Our brief is basically to pay pensions and gratuities.
“The Security Debarment Allowance is for the Defence Headquarters, so it is also not the Military Pension Board’s responsibility.
“Issues of salary and arrears are budgetary issues and unless they are captured in the budget, MPB cannot do anything on its own.
“The shortfall they are claiming is not the fault of the authorities because they retired when the budget for the fiscal year was already running and the new minimum wage was not captured in the budget.
“So there was no way they would have been paid when there was no running budget for the new minimum wage.
“But those who retired after them were paid up to date because the new minimum wage was already captured in the budget when they exited from service.”
However, Aliyu assured that the relevant government agencies were processing the shortfall and they would be paid as soon as it was ready.
He regretted that the retirees had chosen to protest instead of engaging with the relevant authorities to find out the true state of affairs regarding their grievances.
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