AfriPulse
LAGOS, Nigeria — The Coalition of Federal Pensioners of Nigeria has threatened to embark on a nationwide naked protest on Monday, October 6, 2025, if the government fails to implement long-promised pension increments and palliatives.
The coalition’s national chairman, Mukaila Ogunbote, who also heads the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NIPOST Chapter), announced the plan at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
He said pensioners had given the federal government until the end of September to settle outstanding arrears, increments, and palliatives.
“Failure to act will leave us with no choice but to embark on a nationwide naked protest on Oct. 6,” Ogunbote warned, describing the action as a symbolic way of exposing government failures and highlighting the plight of pensioners.
He recalled that in October 2023, President Bola Tinubu approved N35,000 as palliatives for workers and N25,000 for pensioners.
While workers received payments within a month, he said pensioners were still waiting nearly a year later.
“Workers have since demanded and received additional palliatives for ten months, while pensioners’ requests for six months’ worth remain unmet,” he added.
Ogunbote also noted that President Tinubu directed a pension increment of N13,000, but this had not been implemented by the Ministry of Finance or the Office of the Accountant-General.
“When we enquired, we were told our N32,000 increment was omitted from both the 2024 and 2025 budgets. This is injustice,” he declared.
Other retirees at the briefing voiced their frustrations.
Fashola Oluwo, a former employee of the Federal Ministry of Information, called for accountability among officials responsible for failing to execute the president’s directive.
Dupe Ogunniyi, a retiree from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), appealed to the First Lady to intervene on behalf of pensioners, many of whom, she said, support unemployed children while relying solely on meagre pensions.
Adebola Akinduture, a former chairman of the Lagos NUP, underscored the urgency of their demands.
“We are hungry. Food is medicine, yet without it, medicine is meaningless. Pensioners are starving,” he said, vowing that pensioners would take to the streets unclothed on October 6 if the government failed to respond.
Source: TheTrentOnline | Read the Full Story…
