Edo NEPA, PHCN Pensioners Protest N350bn Unpaid Arrears, Urge Tinubu to Intervene

In an emotionally charged demonstration of grief and frustration, hundreds of senior citizens who served under the defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) took to the streets in Edo State, demanding the immediate disbursement of their accumulated N350 billion pension arrears.

Bearing placards with varied inscriptions reflecting their despair, the elderly retirees gathered in Benin City to draw the attention of the Federal Government to what they described as protracted institutional neglect. Many of the demonstrators, now in their frail years, lamented that decades of diligent service in powering Nigeria's industrial and domestic sectors have been rewarded with destitution, medical neglect, and administrative bottlenecks.

According to representatives of the aggrieved pensioners, the outstanding N350 billion liabilities encompass accumulated monthly harmonized pensions, unpaid death benefits to families of deceased colleagues, and unresolved gratuity components dating back to the unbundling of the power sector under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act.

"We gave the prime of our youth to keep the nation’s power grid running under perilous conditions," one elderly leader of the protest stated. "Today, many of our colleagues have passed away without tasting the fruits of their labour, while others cannot afford basic prescription medication amidst soaring inflation."