The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, has assured the National Senior Citizens Centre (NSCC) of the support of the Green Chamber to achieve its mandate.
Thus, the Speaker said the House would work on increasing the agency’s annual budget, which currently stands at N250million annually.
Speaking when he received the leadership of the agency during a courtesy visit in his office at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Speaker Abbas said he was “deeply depressed” that such an important agency would be operating with a paltry sum as its annual budget.
He said: “I am indeed touched by the remarks from the DG concerning the mandate of her agency, which many members did not know it exists. I am deeply depressed that you have been operating with the sum of 250m to cover a national mandate.”
Speaker Abbas also said the House would work with the Committee on Disability Matters, chaired by Hon. Bashiru Dawodu, to ensure that the agency has at least one operational office in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.
The Speaker equally tasked the chairman of the committee to work with the agency to come up with a bill that will provide concessions to senior citizens in the area of healthcare, transportation, etcetera.
“I want to commend you for all that you have been doing and assure you that you have partners in us. We are ready to partner with you. I wish to assure you that going forward, we will sit with the chairman and the Appropriations Committee to see what we can do to improve your budget in 2025.
“It is noteworthy to say that it is not an easy thing; the federal government is really stretched on the issue of budget because the revenue is not growing in the manner in which we expect. So, appropriating more money to agencies becomes critical. But even at that, your agency is one out of so many that deserves special attention. We will do the best we can to see how we can appropriate more funds to your agency,” he said.
Expressing concern regarding the country’s pension scheme, the Speaker assured the NSCC of his readiness to work with the centre to improve the system.
“I can’t imagine a civil servant working for 35 years or after attaining 60 years, only to come back home and be receiving 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, or 30,000 for monthly upkeep as pension. It is so depressing, so disappointing, and I believe both of us can do so much in this area.
“The pension system in Nigeria is simply not working to support the retirees. I believe we can collaborate and partner to see how we can improve the pension scheme. It is one big way of ensuring that your agency’s mandate is achieved.
“We are on the same page on the issue of health care. The elders (senior citizens) need special attention. The chair and the DG, please put heads together to come up with a bill that will give concessions on health, transportation, and other areas to the elderly.
“The issue of offices across the country, it’s something we should look at in the coming budget. I think you should work out a submission for us to have at least six offices in the six geopolitical zones.”
Earlier, the Director-General of the NSCC, Dr. Emem Omokaro, said the visit was to intimate the Speaker of the centre’s operations and the challenges it has been facing despite the overwhelming mandate that it has.
She sought the Speaker’s understanding for improved budgetary provision from the current 250m annually, which she said was not enough for the agency to work with.
The DG also requested the Speaker to look into the issue of offices for the agency across the country to meet the mandate of catering for more senior citizens.