News
Labour to Down Tools Tomorrow over N1Bn Pension
Organized labour made up of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Trade Union Congress (TUC) and civil society groups has declared tomorrow (Wednesday) work-free day for the mass protests in Lagos and Abuja to the attention towards the plight of pensioners, who are owed some N1 billion in pension arears.
Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, president, NLC, said the mass protest was targeted against corruption and impunity in government across states and federal levels, explaining that it was decided that the Lagos and Abuja mass protests hold under the joint umbrella of Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO).
He urged Nigerians across the country to participate actively in the rallies and protest marches to support the demand for a review of the pension fund in order to ensure living pensions and its prompt payment to senior citizens.
Omar, said that pensioners who are not physically fit to start the procession from union’s secretariat at Yaba, Lagos should assemble at the Nigeria Civil Service Union’s secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja from where they would proceed to join the mass movement on arrival at the Lagos State Secretariat.
Elsewhere, National Mirror reported that Mr. Abiola Aremu, Joint secretary of LASCO, said the protest would take off by 8 a.m. from the NLC Secretariat, Yaba, after which the procession would move through Ikorodu Road, Maryland, Ikeja roundabout and terminate at Lagos State Secretariat.
According to Aremu, the NLC’s Central Working Committee, CWC, comprising presidents and general secretaries of the affiliate unions of the congress have condemned the growing level of corruption in the country and the crisis in the pension industry, adding also that all efforts to get the attention of government including two letters sent to the Presidency for intervention over the hardships faced by the nation’s senior citizens were ignored.
He said the CWC has expressed concern that despite the unprecedented scam in the pension regime and the raging war of words between the executive and the National Assembly, pensioners remained the main victims with a large number of them not being paid their entitlements.
“The congress had written at least two letters to the Presidency calling for its intervention in the pension crisis. Coupled with the correspondences, the leadership of congress had reached out through other channels to the Federal Government. The congress leadership had also made public pronouncements on the avoidable, but painful pension crisis.
“The Presidency neither acknowledged the letters nor responded to the issues the leadership of the congress publicly raised on the plight of pensioners. Convinced that the congress had exploited all the lawful channels of communication to the government to no avail, congress is certain that nobody wants to listen to the plight of pensioners,” he said.
Aremu said labour and civil society groups are worried that the continued silence of the government means more hardship for its members in the fold of the National Union of Pensioners, NUP, and that labour is determined to ensure justice for its members who are owed billions of pension arrears.
“The CWC resolved that on April 10, 2013, all NLC affiliate unions and state councils across the length and breadth of the country will mobilise workers on a protest march to the Presidency and state government houses,” he added.
Mr. Peter Esele, president general of the TUC, said the congress was unhappy with a situation where the destinies of “our fathers and mothers who served the country with their blood are being toyed with,” and that if the congress fails to fight for change now, today’s workers may be treated the same way when they retire.
“How do we explain it that every now and then they invite these old people for verification and in the end nothing comes of it after all? Some die on the verification ground without receiving their money, subjecting their wards to avoidable pains,” he said.
Esele reiterated that this injustice must stop if the country must move forward, pointing out that in the African tradition the younger ones have so much respect for elders, but that it is unfortunate the reverse is now the case to the extent that money meant for elders is now being stolen by the youths.
The labour chief stated that any nation that abandons its elders will not succeed, while lamenting that the administration of pension funds has been enmeshed in unprecedented corruption with some public officers, institutions of government and banks taking undue advantage of the pensioners to enrich themselves.
“More painful to the congress is the way and manner government, in spite of the cries and agony of the victims and the criticism of concerned citizens, has kept mute over the matter and shown no concern or care since the agitation of the pensioners began,” Esele added.
Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, has also vowed to join the rally. The group made known their decision yesterday in Abuja at a briefing to mark its 2nd Medical and Health Workers’ Week.
Ayuba Wabba , MHWUN’s chairman, , said as part of activities to mark the Week, MHWUN free medical services would be offered children in all senatorial districts across Nigeria.
This, he said, would take the form of de-worming and health education on personal hygiene.
Xora Finance has announced it will no longer consider job applicants from Nigeria.
Xora Finance is a digital bank founded by Joren Lundgren, in February 2026 and allows users to deposit and earn interest on their XRP cryptocurrency.
Lundgren, founder, in an announcement on X (formerly Twitter), cited an ongoing pattern of misconduct, such as dishonesty and theft, from previous Nigerian hires as the reason for the decision.
This sudden blanket ban came just days after the company’s official career page was aggressively recruiting remote workers for marketing and content roles.
The announcement generated heavy backlash online, with many people upset that a blanket rule punishes honest job seekers.
Some lawyers have said that victims of Ponzi schemes have legal remedies, although recovering lost funds and prosecuting perpetrators remain major challenges.
A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new participants rather than from actual profits.
Operators lure victims by promising high returns with little to no risk.
The scheme inevitably collapses when the flow of new investors slows down.
Some lawyers who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) separate interviews with on Sunday, said that victims could pursue civil actions to recover their money.
Mr Chibuikem Opara, a lawyer at Justification Chambers, Ikeja,said many Nigerians continued to fall victim to Ponzi schemes in spite of repeated warnings.
Opara said it was wrong to attribute participation in Ponzi schemes to a lack of investment opportunities, noting that promoters often exploit investors’ greed through promises of unrealistic returns.
“What you cannot take away is the fact that many Nigerians have fallen and continue to fall victim to these schemes every time,” he said.
According to him, victims may individually or collectively institute civil actions against the beneficiary company for breach of contract or refund arising from failure of consideration.
Opara said victims could also unite to seek an order from the Federal High Court to wind up the beneficiary company.
He, however, noted that such efforts might yield little benefit if perpetrators had already siphoned the funds and left behind an empty shell.
The lawyer said available remedies largely depended on the actions of relevant authorities, adding that recipient accounts could be frozen to facilitate fund recovery and support winding-up proceedings.
Opara said regulators and law enforcement agencies often became aware of Ponzi schemes only after substantial losses had occurred.
According to him, victims frequently failed to report suspicious schemes early enough to enable timely intervention.
He added that funds are sometimes moved outside the country before authorities become aware of the fraud.
Opara also cited inadequate information and the deceptive nature of the schemes as major obstacles to investigation and prosecution.
“Most times, everything about the schemes is made to appear elusive, just like the profits promised to victims,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Vincent Aminu of A.F. Aminu and Co. advised that victims of investment scams should report such cases to appropriate law enforcement agencies on time.
Aminu said victims could petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or file reports with the police.
He said that after investigation, prosecutors could bring charges against suspects under relevant fraud-related laws, including provisions of the Criminal Code and the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.
Beyond criminal prosecution, Aminu said .victims could pursue civil actions to recover their money
According to him, such actions may be based on breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or fraudulent misrepresentation, depending on the circumstances.
He added that victims could petition the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which could investigate illegal operators, shut down unauthorised platforms, and freeze assets.
He identified the anonymity of online fraudsters as one of the biggest challenges confronting investigators.
According to him, many operators concealed their identities through fake digital profiles and technologies that made tracking them difficult.
Aminu also noted that victims who delayed taking legal action risked losing opportunities for redress.
He added that prolonged court proceedings often delayed justice for victims.
“Many fraud-related cases take years before the court reaches a verdict, thereby delaying justice for victims,” he said.
Also, Mr Chris Ayiyi of Ayiyi Chambers, Apapa, described Ponzi schemes as a gamble that benefited early participants at the expense of later investors.
Ayiyi said some early entrants received returns on their investments, thereby encouraging others to join the schemes.
He said the schemes eventually collapsed, leaving late investors to bear the losses
The lawyer called for a complete ban on Ponzi schemes or sustained public enlightenment campaigns against them.
He urged the National Assembly to enact laws that would strengthen regulation and provide greater protection for investors.
According to him, stronger legal safeguards are necessary in a country operating a capital-based economy.
PalmPay Group (“PalmPay”), a multinational fintech company providing digital financial services across high-growth emerging markets, is pleased to appoint Samuel Oluyemi as Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of its Nigeria practice, effective immediately.
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for PalmPay as it looks to reach more underserved communities and continuously strengthen the reliability and security of its services. It also comes as Nigeria’s broader financial services sector continues to modernize, bring millions more Nigerians into the formal financial system, and strengthen the cybersecurity and fraud-prevention standards that underpin public confidence in digital payments.
As COO of PalmPay Nigeria, Mr. Oluyemi will oversee PalmPay’s Nigerian operations — where the company provides a full suite of digital financial services to individuals and businesses — and communicate with regulators to ensure the company’s growth happens harmoniously with the country’s financial, digital, and social inclusion goals.
Mr. Oluyemi brings more than two decades of experience at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (“NIBSS”). During his tenure as the Business Development Lead, he championed the development of key national payment services — including the Digital Validation of Nigerian International Passport (e-Passport Validation), Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (“e-DMMS”), and the Electronic Pensions Contribution Collection System (“EPCCOS”) — and played a pivotal role in introducing and driving early adoption of NIBSS Instant Payment (“NIP”), Nigeria’s first online, real-time, inter-bank transfer system in 2011 and its subsequent extension to the Other Financial Institutions (“OFI”) segment of the Nigeria Payments System.
He holds an MSc in Monetary Economics from the University of Ibadan with extensive local and international professional training.
“Samuel joins PalmPay at an important stage in our journey to strengthen the foundations that will support our long-term goal of driving financial inclusion,” said Chika Nwosu, Managing Director of PalmPay Nigeria. “His extensive experience makes him well positioned to help us scale sustainably while maintaining the operational discipline, governance and customer-first culture that define PalmPay.”
“PalmPay has established itself as one of the most impactful fintech companies in emerging markets by making financial services more accessible and affordable for millions of people,” said Mr. Oluyemi.
“I am excited to join the company and look forward to working alongside an exceptional team to strengthen operational excellence and support PalmPay’s vision of building a leading digital financial services platform. Together, we will continue delivering secure, reliable, and customer-focused financial solutions while contributing to the continued evolution of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.”
As Nigeria’s digital financial services sector continues to mature, this appointment reflects a broader commitment guiding PalmPay across all markets it serves: building financial services that are secure, reliable, and effective enough to earn a permanent place in people’s everyday lives.
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