The chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) in Taraba State, Comrade El-Nathan Bila Auta, has urged pensioners across the state to vote for Governor Agbu Kefas for a second term so he can complete ongoing reforms on the welfare of retirees.
Speaking on Thursday, 15 October 2026, at the Pension House in Jalingo during a congress of the union, Comrade Auta said the governor had taken meaningful steps to ease the hardships faced by pensioners in the state.
He noted that within three years of his first term, Governor Kefas had enrolled more than 3,000 local government pensioners who had long been left out of the state pension scheme and paid about ₦7 billion in gratuities that previous administrations had abandoned.
The chairman expressed optimism that the governor would implement the new minimum wage for pensioners, continue the payment of outstanding gratuities, and complete the enrolment of all remaining local government retirees into the state pension scheme before the 2027 general elections.
Comrade Auta, however, blamed pension administrators in the state—including officials of the Office of the Head of Service, pension departments, and labour leaders, particularly those of the Nigeria Labour Congress and other veterans—for failing to properly brief the governor on the challenges facing retirees.
He said the problems of pensioners’ welfare did not originate directly from the governor but from those responsible for pension and gratuity matters who had not kept him adequately informed.
He further stated that pensioners had strong reasons to demand the removal of the Secretary to the State Government, Gebon Timothy Kataps, Esq.
“Shortly after we were legally elected as new officials of the state NUP, the SSG caused our incarceration at the Police Headquarters in Jalingo for three days for reasons best known to him,” Comrade Auta said. “Secondly, the Upper Area Court in Jalingo ordered that the monthly dues of the union should not be released to any faction because the two factions are in court.
The SSG went behind the scenes and used a different judge to overturn and vacate that order, allowing the dues to be released to the illegal caretaker committee, which refused to vacate office after completing its two terms. He also ordered the closure of the Pension House for nearly a year, denying us access and leaving the place bushy and uninhabitable. These actions give us every reason to call for the removal of the SSG from office.”
In a separate remark directed at the presiding judge handling the court case between the elected executives and the caretaker committee, Comrade Auta apologised for comments he made during the last congress. “Sir, I did not mean to discredit or belittle you in any way. I spoke out of provocation over the SSG’s open interference and support for the caretaker committee because the chairman is his kinsman. If I annoyed you in any way, I am sorry. Kindly forgive me,” he said.
Several pensioners who spoke at the meeting expressed appreciation for Governor Kefas’s attention to their welfare and urged him to continue the payment of gratuities from where it stopped and to implement the pension minimum wage.
Bakari Ayo commended the state NUP chairman for his efforts to improve the living standards of pensioners and prayed for the success of the governor’s second-term bid.
Other members, including Titus Audu and Nuhu Garba, called on the governor to support the NUP chairman by considering the requests already submitted so that the union leadership could fully deliver on its mandate to members. They said pensioners in the state remained loyal to the state government.
