Retirees of the Nigerian Ports Authority have threatened a nationwide protest over what they describe as over 16 years of unpaid pension entitlements.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the pensioners under the Nigerian Ports Authority Pensioners Welfare Association said the action would begin seven days after publication of the notice if their demands are not addressed.
The group, led by its president Charles Ayo Binitie, warned that the protest could include the shutdown of seaports across the country.
Binitie said the planned protest was triggered by the Nigerian Ports Authority management’s failure to implement the constitutionally approved five-year pension increment, which he claimed has not been applied since 2008.
He lamented that many retirees are currently living in poverty and are unable to afford basic healthcare, adding that their conditions have become increasingly difficult over the years.
“It is sad and regrettable to say the least, that amid the present high inflation rate and economic downturn in Nigeria, only a few NPA retirees receive up to N100,000,while more than 50 per cent of them earn between N50,000, to as low as N30,000 monthly,” he said.
“Notwithstanding the fact that the NPA remains a first grade parastatal like the NNPC, its retirees were paid peanuts, and their so called pay rise falls short of the constitutional provision in Section173, Sub Sect.3.
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“The above law states that all pensioners are entitled to pay rise every five years and whenever there is an increase for the in service, however the management just adds whatever amount it likes, which mostly hovers between 3 – 11.5 percent.”
Binitie said the Nigerian Ports Authority management has not implemented the approved pay rise policy, despite repeated efforts by the pensioners’ union to secure compliance.
He said the association had formally written to the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission as well as the Presidency through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, but that no action had been taken so far.
Binitie also dismissed suggestions that the association is divided into factions, stating that any previous disputes had already been settled through court judgments.
“The NPA is yet to furnish the Wages Commission with its documents for over 15 years now, so that the necessary upward review can be made,” he said.
“In one of the judgements of the Lagos High Court Ikeja, the judge instructed the Board of Trustees to hold an AGM of all the pensioners and thereafter, conduct an election; an action which consequently led to my emergence as the body’s incumbent President.”
Binitie said a five-year court battle over alleged impersonation concluded in his favour, with an Apapa Magistrate Court in September 2025 affirming him as the association’s authentic president.
