Pensioners Tasks NRC to Implement Monetisation Policy

Ugo Aliogo

The Nigeria Union of Railway Workers and Senior Staff Association (ANRS) has called on the management of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) to begin the process of implementing the housing aspect of the monetization policy of the federal government to the letter.

Also, they urged the NRC management to await the decision of the Court of Appeal, rather than devise illegal means of ousting the legitimate sitting tenants of the Railway staff quarters.

The pensioners called on the Railway Property Management Company limited to stop negating and frustrating the good intentions of the federal government.

Speaking at media briefing in Lagos, the Chairman of ANRS, Michael Abogoye, appealed with the management of NRC to desist from interfering with the railway staff quarters and their appurtenances forthwith pending determination of the suit at the Court of Appeal. 

He further explained that the federal government, in a deliberate policy to reduce the cost of governance and financial burden of civil servants, relaxed its housing laws for serving and retired staff who occupy federal government staff quarters, “to actualize this, it initiated a monetization policy in June 2004 which became effective on July 1, 2005.”

Abogoye expressed displeasure that in spite of court orders, the NRC management has been trespassing into their premises in Railway staff quarters and harassing the occupants with evictions and demolition.

The chairman appealed to the NRC to allocate the already built houses in respective districts to those who were forcefully evicted and for whom the houses have been built, as the corporation and the federal government had undertaken.

He called on the corporation to stop the demolition and nefarious threats of dismissal from the service on Kano serving staff who are presently being coerced to accept N5 million each and give up their monetized quarters.