Business
Pensioners Decry Non-Implementation Of 33.3% Increase
The Nigeria Union of Pen
sioners (NUP), has called on the Federal Government to implement the 33.3 per cent increase in pension entitlement.
The National President of NUP, Abel Afolayan, made the call at a send off forum for some ex-officials of the union in Abuja.
Afolayan described the non-payment, despite a directive by the Presidency that the money be paid to the affected pensioners without delay, as unfortunate.
He said that government promised to increase the allowance of the pensioners by 53 per cent, after concluding the negotiation of the minimum wages of workers to N18,000.
He said the economic exigencies in the country and the outcry that greeted the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage allowed the pensioners to settle for 33.3 per cent.
The NUP president said that despite the maturity displayed by the union, the federal government had not been able to fully implement the agreement.
Afolayan said those who retired from the military were already enjoying their package, but that other retirees from the civil service were yet to get any payment.
“Arising from the N18,000 per month minimum wage, what the constitution stipulates is that there must be corresponding increase in pension anytime there is increase in wages and salaries.
“Section 173 sub-section 3 and section 200 sub-section 3 stipulate that pension should be increased accordingly.
“Initially, we thought it was going to be 53.3 per cent, but government said what workers actually took was 33 per cent, because tax was deducted from it.
“These were 10 per cent of PENCOM contribution, 7.5 per cent of National Housing Scheme, and another 2.5 per cent.
“It was all these that summed up to 20 per cent. That was how the government arrived at 33.3 per cent.
“We have great respect for Mr President because the NLC and TUC led us to the President, where he ordered that our entire problem must be addressed immediately.
“So, he set up a committee under the chairmanship of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), but since then, it has been meeting upon meeting.
“It is unfortunate that till date, the matter has not been resolved”, he said.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
