Lagos Pensioners Draw Battle Line with Government Over Pension Enhancement
Retirees demand payment of pension increase and wage award as LASPEC cites ongoing actuarial assessment
A major confrontation is looming between the Lagos State Government and retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), as pensioners have issued Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu an August 31 ultimatum to pay their long-awaited pension enhancement and wage award, or face what they described as the “mother of all protests” [citation:1].
The ultimatum was announced by the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme (NUPCPS), Lagos State Council, Comrade Michael Omisande, after a meeting with the Permanent Secretary, Public Service Office, Sunkanmi Oyegbola, which was also attended by the Director-General of the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Babalola Obilana, and the Commission’s Executive Director, Finance, Muyiwa Oshin [citation:1].
According to Omisande, the union had in January 2026 submitted a template to the Lagos State Government for the implementation of the pension enhancement[citation:1]. Although LASPEC informed the union that approval had been granted to engage an actuary, he said no further action had been taken. “We have communicated a 19-day ultimatum to Mr. Governor to credit the accounts of pensioners on the pension increases/wage award, or face protest action tentatively fixed for August 31, 2026,” he stated [citation:1].
During the meeting, Obilana informed the pensioners that Governor Sanwo-Olu had summoned him and issued a directive on the matter but did not indicate when the payment would be implemented [citation:1]. Also present were leaders of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners Defined Benefit Scheme (NUPDBS), Olufemi Olarewaju and Olukayode Bada, while the Lagos State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Funmi Sessi, urged LASPEC to expedite action to avert an industrial confrontation [citation:1].
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Omisande disclosed that the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police had been notified of the planned protest to ensure adequate security for participants [citation:1]. The union had earlier written a formal letter to the Police Commissioner on August 18, 2026, requesting protection over a planned warning protest scheduled for Monday, August 24, 2026, which would hold simultaneously at strategic locations across all 20 Local Governments in Lagos State [citation:1].
The warning protest is scheduled to hold at strategic locations across all 20 Local Governments in Lagos State, including Lagos Island, Ikorodu, Ojo, Apapa, Agege, Oshodi, Somolu, Ikeja, Surulere, Mushin, Badagry, Epe, and others [citation:1]. The letter stated that “Senior Citizens are clamoring for the payment of 16years Pension Arrears” [citation:1]. The union directed the state government to ensure that the relevant pension accounts were credited through the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) by August 19, warning that failure to meet the deadline would result in a mass demonstration involving over 50,000 CPS pensioners [citation:1].
Reacting to the development, the Lagos State Government said it had not received funds from the Federal Government for the pension increase and was funding the additional liability for eligible state pensioners from its own resources [citation:1]. The government dismissed the claim that federal funds meant for pensioners were being held by the state in a bank to generate interest [citation:1]. According to the government, Lagos had already implemented the approved increase for eligible pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS)[citation:1]. For pensioners under the CPS, however, the process was still ongoing because the government was determining its full financial liability under the scheme. “Given the structure of the CPS and the need to determine the state’s full financial exposure accurately, an independent actuary has been engaged to assess the liability and provide the appropriate basis for implementation,” the government said [citation:1].
The government rejected the suggestion that it was deliberately delaying or withholding the benefit, assuring pensioners that “there is no deliberate delay or withholding of funds” and that the process was being undertaken to ensure accurate, transparent and sustainable implementation [citation:1]. The government appreciated the concerns of pensioners and urged them to be patient while the process was completed [citation:1].