The Association of Nigerian Railway Senior Citizens (ANRSC) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the Federal Government’s failure to implement its housing monetisation policy for railway quarters, saying retired railway workers and their families have been denied the opportunity to own the houses they occupied while in service.
The association’s Chairman, Mr Olusegun Esan, made the appeal at a news conference in Lagos on Saturday, saying the policy, introduced in 2004/2005, had been implemented in several government institutions but remained unresolved in the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), leaving many retirees homeless and others facing prolonged hardship.
Esan explained that the housing monetisation policy was introduced to reduce government spending on the maintenance of official residences while allowing serving and retired public officers to purchase the quarters they occupied at affordable rates.
He said the prolonged legal dispute over the railway quarters had caused hardship for affected retirees and their families, adding that some pensioners had died while others remained without permanent accommodation.
According to him, the policy had been fully implemented in several government institutions, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Ports Authority and the judiciary.
He questioned why the Nigerian Railway Corporation had not completed the process, despite beginning parts of the monetisation exercise under its previous management.
Esan said the former NRC management had monitored the monetisation of official vehicles and furniture but failed to address the housing component, which he described as the most important aspect for affected retirees.
He noted that the Nigerian Railway Corporation was formerly one of Africa’s largest employers of labour, with more than 50,000 workers whose families were spread across different parts of the country.
The chairman urged President Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NRC management to facilitate the implementation of the housing monetisation policy and a 2016 court judgment on the matter.
He also called for compensation and resettlement allowances for affected retirees and widows, urging the government to address their grievances without further delay.
Esan said the association had made several attempts to resolve the dispute by writing to the NRC management, the Minister of Transportation, the Federal Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities.
He added that the association had submitted documents outlining the history of the dispute, the affected residential quarters across railway districts and properties allegedly occupied by third parties.
According to him, the current NRC management had engaged the association on possible ways to settle the matter.
However, he said members rejected the proposed settlement conditions because they allegedly contradicted the Federal Government’s monetisation policy and the 2016 court judgment.
Esan explained that the proposed settlement included converting the retirees’ ownership rights into lease arrangements, while the association maintained that eligible occupants were entitled to outright ownership of the quarters under the policy.
The chairman also criticised the settlement committee established by the former Minister of Transportation, alleging that representatives of the association were excluded from its deliberations.
He said the association rejected the committee’s recommendations because its members were not consulted, adding that the Federal Ministry of Justice declined to intervene because the matter was still before the court.
Esan maintained that the association was open to an amicable settlement but would not accept any arrangement that undermined what it considered the retirees’ legally established rights.
Also speaking at the news conference, the association’s Secretary General, Mr Festus Okorie, said some displaced railway workers received financial assistance to rent alternative accommodation after their former quarters were demolished.
However, he said retired workers were excluded from subsequent housing allocations, even when serving workers were returned to newly constructed accommodation.
Okorie cited the Alagomeji-to-Spencer axis, where about 60 workers were reportedly affected by the displacement. He also identified another location with 16 two-bedroom flats and three one-bedroom apartments, which accommodated about 19 families.
He said that while serving workers were resettled in the newly relocated quarters after construction, retired workers who had previously occupied the properties were left out.
