AAI retirees lament unpaid annuity

Some annuitants of African Alliance Insurance have lamented the non-payment of their annuity by the insurance firm, revealing its impact on their overall well-being.

The retirees who spoke to The PUNCH revealed that they have been owed their monthly annuity since last year.

The National Insurance Commission sacked the board and management of AAI last October and appointed an interim board/management led by Dr Haruna Mustapha as Chairman and Mr Jacob Erhabor as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Olusegun Omosehin, announced the sacking during a press briefing at the Commission’s Lagos office and said, “One of the core mandates of the National Insurance Commission, as the primary supervisor of the insurance sector, is to ensure the integrity and stability of insurance companies and, by so doing, take all necessary steps in the interest of the public.”

Following the appointment of the interim board, annuitants had hoped that their payments would become regular; however, that has not been the case.

An annuitant, Gbadebo Adetokunbo, in a message to The PUNCH, lamented that the situation had become so pathetic that he was considering reporting AAI to the gods.

He threatened, “After seven months of non-payment of my annuity by AAI, let nobody blame me if I report AAI & collaborators to ‘Sango obakoso’ for immediate sanction. I don’t want or request two months’ payments but the full payment of the arrears of seven months from September 2024 to March 2025.

“May all the deities in Yorubaland get ready to act, for it is my right to get paid when due, and AAI and collaborators have denied me that agreement from last year, August 2024, till today, April 1, 2025, for my entitlements.”

He said this as AAI paid two months out of the unpaid areas.

Another affected retiree, Babatunde Asije, said, “It is not so easy. The last payment was made in August until late March, when they managed to pay us for two months, although we protested, and those of us in Abuja went to the Ministry of Finance, NAICOM, and the African Alliance Insurance management has been adamant.

“The non-payment is affecting me. I can’t afford to buy my medications or food for my family. It has turned me into a dependant, almost a beggar. Imagine someone who served this country for over 35 years, and when it is time to enjoy the fruit of his labour, some people are dictating how it will be. They just managed to pay us for two out of the seven months owed. Some people have not even received their pay, some with accounts in microfinance banks, and some received one month. To compound it, the last management that ran AAI are walking free, no questions. Why have they not been called for questioning?”

Asije added, “It is in Nigeria that they will beat you and tell you not to cry. They owed seven months; now they have paid two months, and we don’t know when the next payment will come. The agreement we have with AAI is that payment will be made between the 1st and 21st of every month. The greatest problem we have as annuitants is the regulator, NAICOM, which failed to perform its oversight function properly. “

Another annuitant, Dele Deeje, confirmed that he had just been paid for two months with five months left.

“I have been paid for September and October 2024. It remains November to date.”

Deeje went on to thank God for keeping him alive, as the non-payment has affected the quality of his life, saying, “It’s by the grace of God. For the past year, I have been battling with health challenges and have had no money to feed myself and to buy drugs, but thank God I am still alive.”

When The PUNCH reached out to NAICOM, the regulator said it would provide a robust response shortly.