Pensions: Stop chasing shadows – Atiku fires back at Tinubu
Atiku Abubakar Responds to Tinubu’s Criticism Over Pension Issues
ABUJA — Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has dismissed recent comments from President Bola Tinubu regarding the federal government’s pension backlog. Atiku described the remarks as unnecessary distractions from an ineffective administration led by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Recently, Tinubu criticized Atiku for allegedly privatizing government assets and leaving pensioners without compensation. The comment was made during a meeting with North-East political stakeholders, including Governor Babagana Zulum.
In a statement issued on Friday, Atiku’s Media Office characterized Tinubu’s remarks as misguided and politically motivated. The office emphasized that governance is continuous, arguing that current leaders should focus on addressing ongoing issues rather than scapegoating previous administrations.
“Atiku maintained that both President Tinubu and the APC should prioritize understanding effective governance. A successor is responsible for inheriting both assets and liabilities,” the statement read.
According to representatives of Atiku, the Obasanjo-Atiku administration, which began in 1999, inherited a severely underfunded and unfunded Defined Benefits Scheme that had accumulated a pension liability deficit exceeding N2 trillion, or approximately 25% of Nigeria’s GDP at that time. They noted that rather than blame their predecessors, they took proactive measures to reform the pension system.
By the time they left office in 2007, Atiku’s camp asserts that the administration had implemented the Pension Reform Act of 2004, fundamentally transforming the sector into a fully funded and privately managed Contributory Pension Scheme, regulated by the newly established National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The statement highlighted that prior to these reforms, pension administration was fragmented among various government agencies, marked by fraudulent claims, inaccurate data, and bureaucratic delays. Additionally, many private sector employees lacked any form of pension coverage.
It concluded that the legacy of the Obasanjo-Atiku administration included the establishment of a pension framework modeled after international best practices, aimed at ensuring better retirement outcomes for Nigerian pensioners.
