The Association of Nigerian Railway Senior Citizens (ANRSC) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the non-implementation of the federal government’s housing monetisation policy for railway quarters.

The association’s Chairman, Olusegun Esan, said at a news conference on Saturday in Lagos that retired railway workers and their families have been denied the opportunity to own the official quarters they occupied, despite the policy’s introduction in 2004/2005.

He explained that the policy was designed to reduce government expenditure on the maintenance of official residences while giving serving and retired public officers the opportunity to purchase their occupied quarters at affordable rates.

Mr Esan said the prolonged legal dispute had subjected many retirees and their families to hardship, and some affected pensioners had died while others remained homeless.

According to him, the policy has been fully implemented in ministries, departments, and agencies of government, such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Port Authority, and even in the judiciary.

“We now wonder why the Nigerian Railway Corporation is different. The past management of NRC commenced implementation of part of the monetisation process; they monitored vehicles and furniture but left the important aspect – the quarters where retirees live.

“The NRC was formerly one of Africa’s largest employers of labour, with more than 50,000 workers whose families are spread across different parts of the country.

“We appeal to Tinubu to direct the Attorney-General of the Federation and the NRC management to facilitate the implementation of the monetisation policy and the 2016 court judgement.

“We also call for compensation and resettlement allowances for affected retirees and widows, and above all, the government should address their grievances without further delay,” he said.

Mr Esan said the association had made several efforts to resolve the dispute, including writing to NRC management, the Minister of Transportation, the Ministry of Justice and other relevant authorities.

He said the association had also submitted documents detailing the history of the dispute, the affected residential quarters across railway districts and properties allegedly occupied by third parties.

According to him, the present NRC management has engaged the association on possible settlement.

He said, however, that members rejected the proposed conditions because they allegedly contradicted the federal government’s monetisation policy and the court judgement.

“The proposed settlement included converting the retirees’ ownership rights into lease arrangements, whereas the association insisted that the policy provided for outright ownership of the quarters by eligible occupants,” Mr Esan said.

The chairman also criticised the settlement committee constituted by the former Minister of Transportation, alleging that the association’s representatives were excluded from its deliberations.

He said the association rejected the committee’s recommendations because members were not consulted, adding that the Federal Ministry of Justice declined to intervene because the matter remained before the court.

The association’s secretary-general, Festus Okorie, said some displaced railway workers were given financial assistance to rent alternative accommodation following the demolition of their former quarters.

Mr Okorie said retired workers were unfortunately excluded from subsequent housing allocations.

He said the Alagomeji-to-Spencer axis, where about 60 workers were reportedly affected, had another location with 16 two-bedroom flats and three one-bedroom apartments, accommodating about 19 families.

The secretary general said that although serving workers were returned to the newly relocated quarters after construction, retired workers who had previously occupied the properties were left out.

(NAN)