Cross River State retirees, led by National Association of Retirees of State Government of Nigeria chairman Daniel Bassey Effiom, have appealed to All Progressives Congress chairman Christopher Etta in Calabar, Cross River State, on Thursday, September 10, 2026, for urgent intervention over pensions reportedly as low as N4,000 a month and outstanding gratuities.
Effiom said some retired state workers receive monthly pensions of N4,000, N5,000 or N6,000, amounts he described as inadequate for basic living in the face of rising food and healthcare costs.
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“Our members are really suffering in Cross River State. Some are earning N4,000, N5,000, N6,000, etc., as monthly pensions,” Effiom said.
“What can such monies do for a living human being? There’s so much hunger and sickness. And many are dying undeserved deaths every day.”
The retirees’ appeal comes as Governor Bassey Otu says his administration is preparing another tranche of gratuity payments before December, offering a measure of hope to pensioners who have waited years for outstanding entitlements.
The governor made the commitment during a meeting with the Cross River State Elders’ Forum in Calabar on Thursday.
Otu told the elders that his administration remained sensitive to retirees’ difficulties and was working to progressively reduce the backlog of outstanding benefits.
He described the responsibility as a heavy burden, given the contribution made by the state’s older generation.
“When I look at the faces here, I see people who have reached the peak in their different professions and who have had experiences which we still need in terms of nation-building and state-building,” Otu said.
The latest appeal comes against the background of previous efforts by the Otu administration to reduce the state’s inherited gratuity burden.
In May, the state government said it had cleared gratuities owed up to 2015 after releasing N10 billion towards the backlog. The government said obligations covering 2015 to 2023 would subsequently be addressed.
The administration has previously said it inherited a 14-year backlog of unpaid gratuities.
In July 2025, the state government said the backlog had been reduced to four years and highlighted a separate N250 million entrepreneurship initiative that provided N500,000 grants to 500 retirees.
The government has also maintained that retirees’ welfare remains a priority. In September 2025, Otu reiterated his commitment to clearing outstanding gratuities and restoring confidence among workers and pensioners.
Effiom’s latest intervention, however, suggests that significant hardship remains for sections of the retired workforce, particularly pensioners receiving very low monthly payments. He said some retirees had died after being unable to afford medicines and other essential needs.
The NARSGON chairman appealed to Etta to use his position within the governing party to draw Otu’s attention to the retirees’ situation. Effiom said previous attempts to reach the APC chairman by telephone had been unsuccessful.
He also stressed that retirees should not be regarded as “spent forces”, arguing that they continue to have a role to play in the development of Cross River.
The political dimension of the appeal was also evident. Effiom noted that retirees constitute a substantial voting bloc and have dependants whose views can influence electoral choices.
The competing narratives underline the complexity of the pension question in Cross River.
The state government points to billions of naira already committed to inherited gratuity arrears and further payments in the pipeline, while retirees continue to press for faster relief and greater consistency in monthly pension payments.
The government has also introduced measures intended to support retirees beyond arrears.
Its Retiree Entrepreneurship Development Initiative has provided grants and training, with a second phase launched in April 2026 for 1,500 participants across the state’s three senatorial districts.
In July, the Cross River State Local Government Pensions Board and the Auditor-General for Local Government also pledged to strengthen cooperation on pension administration and improve the retirement process for local government workers.
The immediate concern for Effiom and other retirees, however, remains the gap between promises of gradual relief and the daily reality of pensioners struggling with food, medicine and other necessities.
Otu’s latest pledge to release another tranche of gratuities before December could provide some relief if implemented on schedule.
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For retirees receiving the lowest pensions, the broader challenge will be ensuring that outstanding entitlements and disparities in monthly payments are addressed alongside the government’s efforts to clear its inherited arrears.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
