Ogun workers embark on strike over unpaid N82bn pension contributions.

Organised labour in Ogun State, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), has directed all state workers to embark on an indefinite strike beginning midnight, Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

This decision follows the failure to remit N82 billion in contributory pension deductions over a 14-year period.

In a jointly signed statement, labour leaders said the resolution was reached during a statewide congress held on Monday. Workers voted to suspend their services indefinitely, citing the ongoing violation of the Ogun State Pension Reform Law of 2008, which was amended in 2013. The law established the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), mandating both the employer and employees to contribute 7.5% each of the employee’s basic salary to a pension fund managed by licensed administrators.

However, the unions stated that, since the law was enacted 17 years ago, the scheme has been poorly implemented, with only 34 months’ worth of contributions remitted far below the expected 204 months.

They alleged that for the past 14 years, deductions have consistently been made from workers’ salaries, but these funds were never transferred to their respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). As a result, the potential investment returns and other benefits tied to the scheme have been lost, leaving workers shortchanged.

The unions also referenced the 2022 Adekunle Hassan Pension Reform Committee, saying its findings and recommendations were never made public, nor was any action taken to address the concerns it raised. Numerous letters and appeals to the state government have gone unanswered, they added.

Workers have now demanded the total cancellation of the contributory scheme, which is scheduled to take full effect on July 1, 2025, under the amended version of the law.

Two weeks prior, labour had called on the state government to suspend the CPS or revert to the previous pension system. According to the unions, the scheme signed into law in 2008 by former Governor Gbenga Daniel was flawed from the start, with his administration reportedly failing to remit 25 months of deductions before leaving office in 2011.

They further stated that although Daniel’s successor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, amended the law in 2013 and scheduled the scheme’s full implementation for July 2025, he only remitted nine months’ worth of contributions during his eight-year tenure.

Labour leaders also accused the current administration, under Governor Dapo Abiodun, of failing to remit any pension deductions during his six years in office.

They expressed frustration over the government’s prolonged silence, despite repeated efforts to raise the issue through official correspondence.