NAMA Pensioners Plan Protest In Abuja, Lagos, Airports Nationwide Over Unpaid 20-Year Arrears, Missing N2.5billion | Sahara Reporters

The retirees demanded that NAMA immediately begin paying the appropriate pension increases, settle all accumulated arrears without further delay and provide the union with a clear and definite implementation and payment schedule.

Aggrieved retirees of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) have threatened a coordinated protest across the agency’s headquarters in Abuja, its pension office in Lagos and airports nationwide over the continued non-payment of pension increases and accumulated arrears they say have been outstanding for more than two decades.

The pensioners, under the Contributory Pensioners Union of Nigeria (CPUN), NAMA Branch, said they had exhausted all available means of seeking redress and would submit formal protest letters to the agency’s management and offices across the country on Thursday, October 22, 2026, beginning at 11:00 a.m.

They are demanding the immediate payment of their outstanding pension entitlements, including arrears arising from pension increases reportedly computed by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) and submitted to NAMA for implementation.

The aggrieved retirees also questioned the whereabouts of ₦2.5 billion they alleged was released on their behalf in April 2026, approximately six months ago, demanding an explanation for why the money had allegedly not translated into payments to the affected pensioners.

In a letter dated October 12, 2026, addressed to NAMA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, the union formally demanded the immediate commencement of payment of the appropriate pension increases and all outstanding arrears.

The letter, signed by the union’s NAMA Branch chairman, Olopha B. Stephen Lawal, and secretary, Adebola Wasiu, stated that the benefits had remained outstanding for more than 20 years despite the completion of the relevant computation by the NSIWC.

According to the union, many of the affected pensioners are now over 70 years old, while some retired in 2008 or earlier. It said the prolonged delay had left elderly retirees struggling to meet basic needs, including food, accommodation, medical treatment and other essential family obligations.

The union also disclosed that some pensioners had died while waiting for the benefits and pension adjustments they believed were due to them.

“It is therefore deeply distressing that, after waiting for more than twenty years, these elderly pensioners should continue to face uncertainty over payments that have already been subjected to the relevant computation process,” the letter stated.

The retirees demanded that NAMA immediately begin paying the appropriate pension increases, settle all accumulated arrears without further delay and provide the union with a clear and definite implementation and payment schedule.

They further urged the agency to treat the matter as an urgent humanitarian issue, given the advanced age and financial circumstances of the affected pensioners.

The union warned that another indefinite delay was unacceptable, insisting that the relevant computation had already been completed and submitted to NAMA.

“The Union remains willing to engage with the Management and all relevant authorities in good faith to achieve an immediate and satisfactory resolution. However, after more than twenty years of waiting, further delay cannot reasonably be expected from these elderly pensioners,” the letter added.

Copies of the October 12 letter were sent to the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the chairman of the NSIWC and the president of the Contributory Pensioners Union of Nigeria.

In a subsequent message to fellow retirees, the union said NAMA management had responded to its planned action through a letter dated October 19, 2026, addressed to Comrade Lawal

However, the pensioners rejected the response, alleging that the letter was addressed to NAMA Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) retirees rather than the Contributory Pensioners Union of Nigeria, which they described as the recognised body representing their interests.

The union characterised the letter as an attempt to deceive pensioners and said it had rejected the communication

The retirees further accused NAMA management of deliberately failing to communicate with the union since a meeting held on June 10, 2026, while allegedly continuing to engage with an elders’ forum.

According to the union, the proposed meeting date was too far away to address the retirees’ immediate financial difficulties

The pensioners said they could not understand why their entitlements remained unpaid while serving NAMA employees and contract staff were allegedly receiving two months’ salary, a 13th-month payment and their October salaries.

They contrasted those payments with what they described as the meagre pensions they had received for more than 10 years without any corresponding increase.

The retirees said the situation had left many of them struggling to afford food and medication while awaiting the payment of their accumulated benefits.

“NAMA management wants us to wait with empty stomach and no money for feeding, no money for medications until 3rd November 2026,” the union stated in its message to members

“What happened to the ₦2.5 billion that was released on our behalf since April 2026, about six months ago?” the pensioners asked.

It warned that failure to meet the demand would prompt the pensioners to escalate the matter, saying they wanted the Presidency and Nigerians to know that the retirees’ alleged unpaid entitlements remained unresolved.

“If NAMA management wants to dialogue or have a meeting with us, it should be latest Wednesday, 21st October, 2026, and it must be ready to pay our accrued pension rights arrears by October ending,” the union said

The pensioners argued that it was unfair for their retirement benefits to remain unpaid while serving employees allegedly received additional salary payments, including a 13th-month salary that they said was expected to be paid alongside December salaries but had reportedly been paid in October

“It is time for NAMA to pay us our money, our pension arrears. The time is now, not November, not December 2026,” the union declared.

The retirees said their proposed action would involve submitting letters to NAMA’s headquarters in Abuja, its pension office in Lagos and all NAMA offices at airports across the federation.

They called on pensioners at the various stations to join the action and collectively demand the immediate settlement of the outstanding benefits.

The union’s message concluded with a renewed call for payment, declaring: “NAMA, pay us our pension rights arrears now.”