Lagos pensioners begin warning protest over unpaid liabilities

August 25, 2026

Key Points

NUP Lagos State Council has begun a warning protest in Badagry over unpaid pension liabilities.
The union is demanding pension increases, payment of outstanding arrears and settlement of liabilities owed retirees.
The union warned that a larger protest would begin on Aug. 31 if the government fails to address its demands.

Main Story

The Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Lagos State Council, on Monday began a warning protest in Badagry over unpaid pension liabilities and what it described as poor welfare for retirees.

The union said the action was aimed at drawing the Lagos State Government’s attention to the hardship faced by pensioners and demanding improved welfare.

Mr Olufemi Olarewaju, NUP Lagos chairman, disclosed this through Mr Abdulmalik Abiodun, chairman of the union’s Badagry zone.

Olarewaju said the protest was also intended to compel the state government to increase pensions and settle outstanding liabilities owed retirees.

He said President Bola Tinubu had approved N758 billion for pension increases for federal pensioners, which was paid in November 2025.

According to him, the Lagos State Government under Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu had promised to implement the increase for Lagos State pensioners in May 2025.

Olarewaju said Sanwo-Olu received the federal pensioners’ implementation template in January 2026 and referred it to the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC).

He said pensioners had yet to receive the payment despite pressure from the union.

The NUP chairman said the union subsequently issued an ultimatum demanding that pensioners’ accounts with various pension fund administrators be credited by Aug. 19.

He said the ultimatum expired without action from the state government, prompting the warning protest.

Olarewaju warned that a larger protest would begin on Aug. 31, with pensioners expected to converge on the Lagos State Government Secretariat in Alausa and the Lagos State House of Assembly.

He said the pensioners would remain at the locations until the government addressed their demands.

The union also called on Sanwo-Olu to settle outstanding pension liabilities and release funds to retirees who exited service from 2024.

Olarewaju said the affected retirees had their files cleared by LASPEC but remained unpaid.

He identified two categories of pensioners affected by the demands: those under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) and those under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

According to him, DBS pensioners were owed 57 months of arrears arising from the implementation of the 2019 new minimum wage.

He said CPS pensioners were demanding payment of the 15 per cent minimum wage adjustment of 2010, the 33 per cent consequential adjustment from 2019 and a N32,000 wage award owed from January 2024.

The union is also demanding the movement of pensioners in parastatals to the mainstream public service to ease payment.

Olarewaju alleged that more than 2,000 pensioners had died over the past decade while waiting for their entitlements from the Lagos State Government.

He also said a Level 17 pensioner earns less than N60,000 monthly, which he described as unacceptable.

The Issues

The protest centres on the union’s demand for the implementation of pension increases and payment of outstanding liabilities owed to Lagos State pensioners.

The union says pensioners under both the Defined Benefit Scheme and Contributory Pension Scheme have outstanding adjustments and wage-related payments that remain unpaid.

It is also demanding the settlement of liabilities owed to retirees who left service from 2024 and the transfer of pensioners in parastatals to the mainstream public service.