Osun state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke on Thursday said that a total sum of N8,572,152,849.05 has been released for payment of pensions, gratuity and accrued right benefits for retirees in the State from the inception of his administration to date.
The governor who made this known at the presentation of bond certificates to contributory pensioners at all levels of government in the state, explained that, at the local government level, “between November 2022 and before today’s programme, a sum of N7,329,225,294.74 had been released for payment of pensions, gratuity, and accrued rights benefits for local government and primary school retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme”.
“Today, bond certificates worth N1,242,927,554.31 will be released to the same set of workers. Thus, from the inception of the administration to date, a total of N8,572,152,849.05 has been released.”
At the state level, the governor said, “Between November 2022 and before today’s programme, a sum of N4,088,006,280.43 had been released for payment of gratuity and accrued rights benefits of retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, secondary and tertiary institutions. This is apart from about N3.6bn committed to the payment of pension from December 2022 to date.”
“For retirees at the state level under the Contributory Pension Scheme, bond certificates worth N836,823,243.00 are to be distributed to them today. Thus, the commitment of the government to the payment of gratuity and accrued rights benefits of retirees at the state level under the CPS to date is N4,924,829,243.00. The total we are handing out today is N2.1 billion”.
“When I was campaigning for the governorship, It was a deliberate decision to put workers’ welfare as number one on my governance agenda. I know the level of inhuman treatment our workers and pensioners have been subjected to. I had a vow that if elected, never must our pensioners be so badly treated again”.
“Despite the weak funding base of the state, we launched out in pursuance of our electoral pledge. Within a very tight financial regime, we are addressing outstanding pension and salary debt. We are gradually clearing outstanding arrears owed workers, in and out of service.”
“The template for payment that our government issued early this year is still very much in force. We are following it religiously. Even when the paucity of funds threatens implementation, I insisted we must act to satisfy our senior citizens who are suffering in retirement. ”
“Permit me to reassure our senior citizens that we are not and will never play politics with their welfare. I invite them to note that the economic mess we met on the ground was deeper than anybody can imagine. The state purse was almost in the red with very harsh deductions and repayment. ”
“Our fathers and mothers, your state ran aground. Your government, which is barely eight months old, is working tirelessly to rebuild. We are recharging to address your interest and that of the populace.”
“Since my assumption of office, I have demonstrated the deepest passion to serve the public interest, young and old. We are sacrificing, cutting costs, and denying ourselves many gains of office. The reason, before man and God, is my desire to clear the avoidable mess the former government left behind.”
“Today, we are gathered here for another piece of good news. While by July ending, we paid another batch of half salary debt, today it is the turn of contributory pensioners to smile.”
” My dear senior citizens, our administration is innovating a sustainable strategy to liquidate all outstanding pension and salary debt. We know how important these payments are to thousands of families. ”
“As we devise a new future, let’s kindly remember where we are coming from. We are all pushed into this trap by the mismanagement of the state apparatus by the previous government. That legacy of maladministration is what my team is labouring to reverse.”
“We are experimenting with various options that can reduce the cost of survival for pensioners. We are working to enrol pensioners in the state health insurance scheme. That is a line we are exploring to meet the health cost of our pensioners. We are still working on the details, but we are optimistic, it will be a huge step forward for our senior citizens.”
“I, therefore, appeal to pensioners of all categories that we have them in mind. We are determined to satisfy their aspirations and make life more enjoyable for them, ” he concluded
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