Pensioners in Adamawa have asked for an increase in their monthly minimum pension of N4,000 and have demanded a N150,000 raise.

In addition to commemorating World Pension Day this year on Thursday, the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, used the occasion to recognize six of their oldest members, including 103-year-old Ahmadu Bello Damare.

The state NUP chairman, Comrade Mohammed Sali, stated during the Pensioners Day celebration at the NUP Pension House in Yola that the union's lowest paid members, who only receive the minimum N4000, have been suffering for far too long.

He said, "The minimum pension should henceforth be at least N150,000 monthly, as solicited by our counterparts across the country.”

Although he appreciated the state government for being faithful in paying the current meager pension, Mohammed Sali said the story is different with gratuity payments to members who retired in the last 10 to 13 years.

“State government pensioners are being owed 10 years of gratuity while local government pensioners are owed 13 years,” he said, pleading with the government to offset the backlog without further delay.

Apart from 103-year-old Bello Damare, who retired from service in 1972 and currently earns N5,000 monthly pension, the other old pensioners who got special recognition during the event included 97-year-old Ibrahim Mubi, who retired as school principal in 1986 and currently receives N5,000 monthly pension, as well as 83-year-old Abdurrahman Bazza, a former employee first of defunct Northeastern State and then Adamawa State, who retired in 2001 on GL 14 and currently receives N19,000.

Each of the six oldest members got N20,000 in cash as special medical assistance from the Adamawa State chapter of NAP.