BBC Documentary Exposes Corruption In Nigeria’s Pension System

An investigation by BBC Africa Eye has uncovered corruption in
the retirement system in Nigeria.

In a statement, the
BBC^[1] said the
pension system in Nigeria is an unfair and corrupt system which
leaves some elderly people sick and penniless.

The documentary revealed politicians are being offered
outrageous retirement packages.

The five-month investigation began when Africa eye was
approached by Obaji Akpet – a reporter/producer from Cross River
State (Southern Nigeria), who said his mother, a nurse, did not
start getting her pension payments as would be normal, when she
retired and that she was being asked to pay cash directly to an
official working in the pension department before they would pay
out her pension.

Via a hidden camera Obaji filmed a civil servant accepting money
for herself, and suggesting senior managers in the department also
needed to be paid before the pension paperwork would go
through.

The BBC Africa Eye revealed that despite these payments being
made Obaji’s mother’s pension didn’t arrive until five months
later, a delay that caused her extreme financial problems and left
her feeling like she was “in hell fire” and “no more a human
being.”

Africa Eye also uncovered a list of over 1000 people in Cross
River state whose pensions had been stopped because the state had
decided they were no longer alive.

At the other end of the scale, the statement added, “We found
politicians awarding themselves huge pensions and additional perks
and in some cases trying to change the law to give themselves even
more.

“As one politician told us ‘What a typical state governor takes
home as pension can settle the wages of over 3-4000 teachers. Why
should the state dedicate such sort of money to former
governors’.

The statement quoted the Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole
Oluwadare, as advocating for deployment of technology to identify
pensioners.

An investigation by BBC Africa Eye has uncovered corruption in
the retirement system in Nigeria.

In a statement, the
BBC^[1] said the
pension system in Nigeria is an unfair and corrupt system which
leaves some elderly people sick and penniless.

The documentary revealed politicians are being offered
outrageous retirement packages.

The five-month investigation began when Africa eye was
approached by Obaji Akpet – a reporter/producer from Cross River
State (Southern Nigeria), who said his mother, a nurse, did not
start getting her pension payments as would be normal, when she
retired and that she was being asked to pay cash directly to an
official working in the pension department before they would pay
out her pension.

Via a hidden camera Obaji filmed a civil servant accepting money
for herself, and suggesting senior managers in the department also
needed to be paid before the pension paperwork would go
through.

The BBC Africa Eye revealed that despite these payments being
made Obaji’s mother’s pension didn’t arrive until five months
later, a delay that caused her extreme financial problems and left
her feeling like she was “in hell fire” and “no more a human
being.”

Africa Eye also uncovered a list of over 1000 people in Cross
River state whose pensions had been stopped because the state had
decided they were no longer alive.

At the other end of the scale, the statement added, “We found
politicians awarding themselves huge pensions and additional perks
and in some cases trying to change the law to give themselves even
more.

“As one politician told us ‘What a typical state governor takes
home as pension can settle the wages of over 3-4000 teachers. Why
should the state dedicate such sort of money to former
governors’.

The statement quoted the Deputy Director of SERAP, Kolawole
Oluwadare, as advocating for deployment of technology to identify
pensioners.