Railway retirees beg Tinubu to intervene in housing policy dispute

President Bola Tinubu. Photo: State House

The Association of Nigerian Railway Senior Citizens has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the non-implementation of the Federal Government’s housing monetisation policy for railway quarters.

The association’s Chairman, Mr Olusegun Esan, made the appeal at a news conference on Saturday in Lagos.

Esan said retired railway workers and their families had been denied the opportunity to own the official quarters they occupied, despite the introduction of the policy in 2004/2005.

He explained that the policy was designed to reduce government expenditure on the maintenance of official residences while providing serving and retired public officers with the opportunity to purchase their occupied quarters at affordable rates.

Esan said the prolonged legal dispute had subjected many retirees and their families to hardship, adding that some affected pensioners had died while others remained homeless.

According to him, the policy had been fully implemented in ministries, departments and agencies of government, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Ports Authority and even the judiciary.

“We now wonder why the Nigerian Railway Corporation is different. The past management of NRC commenced implementation of part of the monetization process, they monitored vehicles, furniture but left the important aspect – the quarter where retires live.

“The NRC was formerly one of Africa’s largest employers of labour, with more than 50,000 workers whose families are spread across different parts of the country.

“We appeal to Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NRC management to facilitate the implementation of the monetisation policy and the 2016 court judgment.

“We also call for compensation and resettlement allowances for affected retirees and widows, and above all, government should address their grievances without further delay,” he said.

Esan said the association had made several efforts to resolve the dispute, including writing to the NRC management, the Minister of Transportation, the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities.

He said the association had also submitted documents detailing the history of the dispute, the affected residential quarters across railway districts and properties allegedly occupied by third parties.

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According to him, the present NRC management had engaged the association on a possible settlement.

He, however, said members rejected the proposed conditions because they allegedly contradicted the Federal Government’s monetisation policy and the court judgment.

“The proposed settlement included converting the retirees’ ownership rights into lease arrangements, whereas the association insisted that the policy provided for outright ownership of the quarters by eligible occupants,” Esan said.

The chairman also criticised the settlement committee constituted by the former Minister of Transportation, alleging that the association’s representatives were excluded from its deliberations.

He said the association rejected the committee’s recommendations because members were not consulted, adding that the Federal Ministry of Justice declined to intervene because the matter remained before the court.

Esan maintained that the association was not opposed to an amicable settlement but would not accept conditions that undermined the retirees’ legally established rights.

Also, the association’s Secretary-General, Mr Festus Okorie, said some displaced railway workers were given financial assistance to rent alternative accommodation following the demolition of their former quarters.

Okorie said retired workers were, however, excluded from subsequent housing allocations.

He cited the Alagomeji-to-Spencer axis, where about 60 workers were reportedly affected, while another location had 16 two-bedroom flats and three one-bedroom apartments, accommodating about 19 families.

The secretary-general said that although serving workers were returned to the newly relocated quarters after construction, retired workers who had previously occupied the properties were left out.

NAN