Senator Ojudu wants Pension thieves Jailed

Vice Chairman Committee for Establishment and Public Service Pensions, Senator Babafemi Ojudu has recommended jail terms for those confirmed to have stolen pension funds in the country.

Speaking to a group of journalists while at Arewa House , Kaduna for the two-day public hearing on pension management and administration in North-West Nigeria , Ojudu said it was unfair to deny pensioners their entitlements after putting all good parts of their productive years to work .

According to him, those saddled with responsibility of paying pensioners should be held responsible for the tribulation of the pensioners each time they want to collect the meagre amounts they get as pension entitlements.

Ojudu said he could not understand why N2.4 trillion pension funds is lodged in the vaults PENCOM and pensioners are still suffering untold hardship.

Ojudu who represents Ekiti Central in Senate said the Senate committee will ensure that the suffering of pensioners across the country stop .

He further explained that the essence of the public hearing was to gather information on the problems facing the pensioners and those involved in theft of pensioners funds.

Earlier, the Committee had vowed to end the bottlenecks that delayed payment of pension to retirees in the county.

The committee also promised to unravel those involved in corrupt practices that hindered prompt payment of pensions at all levels of payment management and administration.

Chairman of the joint Committee, Senator Aloysius Etok who expressed displeasure over the frequent difficulty pensioners face said, ” days of suffering for pensioners are over”.

The committee members who were in Kaduna to investigate pension payment management and administration across North-West states commenced hearing on some petitions and reports today. They would sit for two days.