The management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has rejected the blackmail by a section of its former workers who have assembled under the name – Nigerian Ports Authority Concerned Pensioners (NPACP) – a group which it says is not known to any Nigerian law.
Although members of the group, led by Charles Binitie, are former employees of NPA, most of whom left the service between 2006 and 2007, they have refused to belong to the recognised Nigerian Ports Authority Pensioners Welfare Association (NPAPWA).
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The NPAPWA is recognised by management on the strength of a July 20, 2018 letter addressed to the Managing Director by the Chief Registrar, Federal High Court Lagos, A.A Tahir, recognising Umar Imam as the authentic caretaker committee member to take charge of the association.
NPA, in a statement on Thursday by its General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Jatto Adams, said that the authority’s management had been giving the group audience since the past three years.
Mr Adams said that several steps were taken after meeting with some of the group’s representatives which affected NPA’s 8000 pensioners.
He listed some of them as harmonisation of pensions ranging from 15 percent to 158 percent paid to all categories of pensioners including the 2006/2007 set; increase of pensions to all categories of pensioners including members of the NPACP by 3 percent among others.
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Adams said that in spite of the commitments, the group has continued to hold NPA to ransom.
“Their current grouse is that the 3% increase approved by the Authority is too little and must be increased. This proposal is not just outrageous but unacceptable to the Authority, which is aware of the state of its finances and cannot make unsustainable commitments. Our position has also been validated by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, which clarified that the constitution leaves the margin for increase of such remuneration at the discretion of the Authority.
“The NPACP is also claiming that the Authority increased the salary of staff in January 2018 and as such, pensioners should benefit.
“The correct position, which has been clarified by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission in a letter written to the Honourable Minister of Transportation on May 31, 2018 is that the Authority only corrected ‘inherent anomalies’ in its salary scale and that this cannot be equated with a salary increase.”
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The statement said that the NPA board has written to NPACP to state that it would no longer entertain members of NPACP or any group of pensioners unless they channel their requests through the NPAPWA.
The NPA advised all members of NPACP who are said to contribute various sums of money under the claims of ‘settling’ people at the NPA or National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission to desist from the act.
