The Association of Nigeria Railway Senior Citizens (ANRSC) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the alleged eviction of retired railway workers from their official quarters, accusing the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) of failing to implement the Federal Government’s monetisation policy.
The association said the prolonged dispute over the ownership of railway quarters had left many retirees homeless and vulnerable, despite a 2016 judgment of the National Industrial Court affirming their entitlement to the properties.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos, the National Chairman of ANRSC, Comrade Segun Esan, urged the President to direct the immediate implementation of the 2004/2005 monetisation policy, which provides for the sale of government quarters to their legal occupants at affordable rates.
Esan said the policy was introduced to reduce the financial burden of maintaining government properties and provide homeownership opportunities for serving and retired public servants.
He noted that the policy had been implemented in several government institutions, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Ports Authority and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
He, however, lamented that railway retirees had been excluded, despite the policy’s implementation in other agencies.
According to him, previous NRC managements monetised official vehicles and furniture but failed to extend the same benefits to railway quarters occupied by retirees.
“You cannot take your own vehicles and furniture under monetisation and deny the retirees their quarters under the same policy. That is injustice and oppression,” he said.
Esan also accused successive NRC managements of secretly selling railway quarters to third parties and leasing them at exorbitant rates while evicting retirees who had occupied the properties during their years of service.
He recalled that Justice Babatunde Adejumo, then President of the National Industrial Court, ruled on January 6, 2016, in Suit No. NICN/LA/22/2011 that the retirees were entitled to own their quarters under the monetisation policy.
The NRC management appealed the judgment in 2016, and the case has remained at the Court of Appeal for 10 years.
Describing the prolonged litigation as painful, Esan said many retirees had died while some widows were left without homes.
He called on Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NRC managing director to discontinue the appeal and implement the court judgment.
The association also demanded compensation and resettlement allowances for evicted retirees and widows, as well as refunds of housing deductions allegedly made from workers’ salaries and pensions since 2004.
Esan said the existing quarters could provide homes for railway retirees without additional housing construction, urging the government to resolve the dispute in the interest of justice and dignity for former workers.
The NRC management is yet to speak officially as of the time of filing this report.
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