2023: Vote credible, pensioner-friendly candidates, NUP advises members
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners(NUP) has advised its members to vote credible candidates who will prioritise the welfare of pensioners in the country in the forthcoming general elections.
Mazi Godwin Abumisi, the National President of NUP, Mazi Godwin Abumisi gave the advice at the opening of its National Executive Council meeting on Thursday in Jos.
Abumisi, who commended President Muhammadu Buhari for being pensioner- friendly, said members must vote someone that would continue in that regard.
“Our President has proven to be a pensioner-friendly president and as he prepares to leave office in 2023, we are duty-bound to elect a successor who will ensure our interests,as pensioners, are adequately catered for and protected.
“This is why we invited to this occasion, all the leading presidential candidates to come and and address this gathering as regards their plans for pensioners’ welfare and the nation in general.
“So, it is very important and instructive that Nigerian pensioners will choose leaders that will treat us as human beings and not spare tyres or parasites,” he said.
Abumisi explained that the choice of “Pensioners Fate in the Unfolding Political Events in Nigeria as theme of the meeting, was deliberate, to capture the yearnings of pensioners and Nigerians in general.
Declaring the meeting open, Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau, represented by Mr Sunday Hyat, Head of Civil Service (HoS) of the state, thanked NUP for the choice of the state for its 2022 NEC meeting.
“The decision to host this event in Plateau is a demonstration of your confidence in the efforts of this goverment toward restoring lasting peace to the state,”he said.
Lalong explained that his administration had prioritised regular pension payments to beneficiaries, adding that the payments were up-to-date.
“We inherited over eight months pension arrears when we came on board in 2015, but today we have cleared everything.
“We have placed high premium on the welfare of our senior citizens; payment of pension is a frontline charge and we will not renege on that,” Lalong added.
In a brief goodwill message, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, the Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) promised to prioritise the the welfare of pensioners if elected in 2023.
Kwankwaso, who was represented by Pastor Alfred Dabwan, the governorship candidate of the party in Plateau, also promised to address all challenges being faced by pensioners in the state.
