“Stop blaming past administrations” – Atiku replies Tinubu over pension backlog

African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has dismissed President Bola Tinubu’s recent comments on the federal government’s pension backlog, describing them as unnecessary blame-shifting and political distractions by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration.

Tinubu had criticised Atiku over the issue, accusing the former vice president of privatisising government assets and leaving pensioners unpaid.

In a statement on Friday, Atiku’s Media Office described the President’s remarks, made during a meeting with North-East political stakeholders led by Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, as misplaced criticism targeted at an administration that left office nearly two decades ago.

The statement argued that the responsibility of governance requires successive administrations to manage both inherited assets and liabilities rather than constantly blame previous governments.

“Both President Tinubu and his inept APC administration should seek more knowledge about good governance and developmental communication. Government is a continuum. The present helmsmen cannot continue to waste valuable national time and resources on ghosting and blaming past administrations. A successor must inherit assets and liabilities,” Atiku said.

According to Atiku’s camp, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and then Vice President Atiku Abubakar inherited a weak, unfunded and non-contributory Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) in 1999, with accumulated pension liabilities estimated at over N2 trillion.

It stated that rather than criticising previous administrations, the government introduced reforms aimed at addressing the challenges in the pension sector.

The statement noted that the Obasanjo/Atiku administration enacted the Pension Reform Act of 2004, which introduced a funded and privately managed Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) under the supervision of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

Atiku’s camp further claimed that the pension system before 1999 was characterised by poor record keeping, ghost pensioners, fragmented administration and delays in payment, while many private sector workers lacked pension coverage.

The statement added that the Pension Reform Act of 2004 transformed Nigeria’s pension system by establishing a new framework based on global best practices and providing a more structured retirement system for workers.