Determined to offset the backlog of pensions and gratuities arrears in Ogun State, Gov. Dapo Abiodun has announced the increment of the quarterly payment of pension to N1billion.
Abiodun made this known while addressing pensioners at an interactive session held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta on Monday.
The governor informed them that his administration met an arrears of over N80billion and had since developed ways of defraying it.
“When we came in, we met pension arrears of over N80billion. We started paying N500million at a time. We later increased it to N600million monthly.
” If the previous government had been paying, we would not be where we are today.
“I am expecting about N280billion from the federal government being the money we spent constructing federal roads.
” I can assure you that as soon as I get that money, I will pay between N10 and N18billion as pensions and gratuities,” the governor said.
Abiodun disclosed that no gratuity was paid from 2012 up to when he assumed office in 2019.
He announced increment of N15,000 for pensioners who were previously collecting N5,000 monthly pension to cushion the economic impact on them.
He added that his administration had devised various ways, including providing needed infrastructure, security and enabling environment for more investments aimed at increasing the Internally Generated Revenue of the state.
The governor stated that his administration was not unmindful of the plight of the senior citizens, adding that a special arrangement had been made by government to take care of pensioners who needed urgent medical treatment.
He pleaded for patience and understanding as his administration make efforts to attend to their issues, pledging to have such interactive session twice a year.
Earlier, the State Chairman, Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Alhaji Waheed Oloyede, had urged the state government to increase the monthly pension of those still collecting N5,000.
Oloyede called for the review of pensions in the state in line with what is obtainable at the federal level.
He called for a regular interface between the pensioners and the state government to enable them solve any impending issues.(NAN)
