By Michael Oche
The leadership of the Federal Civil Service Pensioners (FCSP) branch has issued a strong warning against the politicization of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) elections, emphasizing that the current national executive was duly and transparently elected.
Reacting to recent calls by a group identified as Concerned FCSP for the dissolution of the NUP leadership, Comrade Fredrick Eguaoba, Chairman of the FCSP branch, described the move as misguided and driven by personal grievances rather than collective interest.
Eguaoba urged members of the Concerned FCSP to return to the union’s fold and contribute meaningfully to its progress, rather than engage in what he termed a “campaign fueled by cronyism and bitterness.”
He emphasized that many of the aggrieved individuals had recently lost in the FCSP elections and are now wrongfully blaming the NUP for their defeat.
He noted that the FCSP and NUP elections were held in the presence of key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Labour, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), all of whom endorsed the processes as free and fair.
“It is disheartening to see people dwell in delusion and try to derail union progress simply because they didn’t emerge victorious,” Eguaoba said.
He said this tendency mirrors the worst of national politics, which trade union members should not be associated with.
He noted that the upcoming NUP National Delegates Conference, scheduled for April 14, presents a fair opportunity for any interested member to contest, rather than resort to smear campaigns.
“Some of the very people now agitating were once members of the Caretaker Committee that supervised our election before it was dissolved. We are not interested in joining issues with them. Our advice is simple: stop expending your aged energy in fruitless battles. Be more useful to the union,” he added.
Eguaoba called on all members and the general public to ignore the calls for the dissolution of a duly elected executive body.
“People cannot continue to condemn every process they lose in. This is exactly what plays out in national politics, once some people lose, they discredit the process,” he noted.
He concluded by urging all pensioners to focus on supporting the leadership of NUP, which he said has worked tirelessly to maintain peace and unity across its branches.
