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

The lingering crisis over the N350 billion liabilities underscores the persistent transitional challenges that followed the privatization of Nigeria's electricity supply industry. While the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has made strides in streamlining pension administration across several treasury-funded parastatals, the PHCN and NEPA legacy debts remain a deeply contentious fiscal burden.

Labour analysts observe that resolving the power sector pension backlogs requires decisive executive intervention. The protesters specifically appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct the Federal Ministry of Finance and PTAD to conduct a comprehensive audit and establish an expedited payment framework that eliminates bureaucratic delays.

The broader socio-economic implications of unpaid pensions continue to reverberate across Nigeria, where social safety nets are largely non-existent for the elderly. Observers warn that failure to resolve these historical liabilities diminishes morale across the current public sector workforce and exacerbates poverty among vulnerable senior citizens.

As economic pressures mount nationwide, the Edo State electricity pensioners maintain that their peaceful agitation will persist until concrete fiscal commitments are made by the relevant federal authorities to liquidate the outstanding arrears.