Oil unions have vowed to protest against the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, over the extension of retirement dates for two NNPC directors sacked last year.
The unions, who also said the NNPC workers’ monthly pension deductions had not been remitted to their Pension Fund Administrators since December 2015, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the minister to address the issues, DailyTrust reports.
It would be recalled that following a request by Kachikwu to President Buhari to reconstitute the executive management of the NNPC, the president in August 2015 approved, among other things, the disengagement of all the eight NNPC group executive directors (GEDs).
Dr Dan Iwoene Efebo, then GED, Corporate Services, and Chris Osasu Osarumwense, managing director, NNPC Retail Limited, were among those disengaged from the corporation.
According to NNPC records, both officers had less than five months to complete 10 years in public service which would have qualified them for pension benefits under the NNPC Defined Pension Scheme. Efebo and Osarumwense served the corporation for 9 years, 8 months and 9 years, 11 months, respectively.
But the minister had now directed that the service dates of the ex-officials be changed to enable them reach ten years of service and become pensionable.
NNPC sources said the extension of terminal dates for the two disengaged management staff was contrary to the directive of President Buhari who authorised their disengagement from service with effect from August 4, 2015.
The minister’s directive for the date extension and subsequent implementation was contained in a letter dated February 1, 2016 with Ref: HMS/MPR/006/Vol.1, addressed to the GED, finance and services of the NNPC.
The letter partly read: “Considering the fact that both officers had less than 5 months to complete 10 years in public service their terminal dates from the services of the NNPC are hereby extended retroactively as follows: Dr. Dan Iwoene Efebo from 11th August 2015 to 11th December, 2015; Christopher Osasu Osarumwense from 11th August, 2015 to 8th September, 2015.
“The extension is on compassionate grounds to enable them complete 10 years in public service and qualify for payment of pension benefits. Accordingly, you are by this approval requested to pay the referenced staff all salaries and allowances up to their extended dates of retirement from NNPC.”
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