Pensioner Laments Non-Payment Pension, Gratuity By Bayelsa Govt

A retired lecturer in the Fine and Applied Arts department of Niger Delta University, Amassoma, Mr. Pius Waritimi, has been lamenting the failure of Bayelsa State Government to pay him gratuity since he retired from the university a few years ago.
In a Valentine’s Day post on his social media handle, Mr. Waritimi, criticized the state government for organizing an elaborate Valentine’s Day programme in the state when its retirees were starving.
“Why has Bayelsa State Government not paid my pension of January 2025 and the government had gone ahead to celebrate Valentine’s Day. I am a retiree of Niger Delta University in the department of fine and applied arts. And I am 69 years plus with a family to feed on the stipend no matter how small. This is unacceptable.
“As for my gratuity, I don’t know when it will be paid, maybe, when I am dead. I will be 70 by September 11th of this year. What a way to show for the selfless services I had rendered to the state with a good number of public sculpture pieces adorning buildings in Bayelsa State judiciary,” Waritimi, who is popularly known as the Woodpecker lamented.
He however said because he had no means of getting redress, he would leave it to God to judge the government.
The Bayelsa State Government’s delay in paying January 2025 pensions to retirees of Niger Delta University may be linked to the state’s financial struggles, which are partly due to the huge pension allowances paid to former governors. These allowances range from N5.5 million to N300 million annually.
Bayelsa State has failed to implement the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and Group Life Insurance for civil servants, as required by the Pension Reform Act 2014, which could have contributed to the state’s financial difficulties and delay in pension payments.
The Nigerian Pension Commission recently stated that 24 out of 36 states have failed to implement the CPS, which has compounded the pension crisis.