The Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) has said pensioners are the most affected by the inflation, following the removal of fuel subsidy in the country.

NUP’s Head of Information, Mr Bunmi Ogunkolade, told journalists in Abuja on Sunday that pensioners are worse hit by the rise in price of goods in the market because of the meagre pension majority of them are paid monthly.

“Pensioners go to the same market with other able-bodied workers. They are also special breed because most of them depend on regular drugs due to their age.

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“This is because they are prone to high blood pressure, diabetes, old age sicknesses, among others. That is why we are always appealing to governments to take care of these special people.

“We want the government to always consider the pensioners first and also include them anytime they want to do anything for workers in the country.

“We want the government to increase our pension, double our pension and also provide free medical care.

“We are not saying that the government is not trying but the reality on ground today as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy is something else,” he said.

Ogunkolade further said that the proposed palliatives by the Federal Government to states to cushion the effect of the removal of subsidy are temporary.

“What the government is giving is not palliatives; it is like a temporary solution but palliatives for pensioners should be given to them until they pass. What pensioners need are not even palliatives; we want a final solution because the removal of subsidy is having effect on us.

“We want the government to come out in clear terms on what they are going to do to sustain us and not palliatives that will just relieve us for a while and then we are back to square one. So, they should come out in clear teams with concrete solution not something imaginative to the problem they created,” he added.

 

 

 

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