The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde says the State has a backlog of N26b in unpaid gratuities to 6,274 pensioners.
Governor Makinde made the disclosure in Ibadan on Monday while presenting cheques to some of the beneficiaries of the N180mgratuity for 2013 retirees.
He said; “his administration had been making efforts to offset the debt inspite of the limited resources of the government.”
Makinde stated, “this symbolic presentation of cheques is for retirees who finished the processing of their retirement papers in 2013. In total, 82 of these retirees will be paid their full retirement benefits.”
The Governor noted that his administration remained committed to finishing whatever the previous administrations had left undone, including payments.
He said; “when a child inherits fortune from his father, he will not reject it. In the same way, if he inherits debt, he is duty-bound to do something about it and that is what I just explained; we are doing something about it.”
Governor Makinde asserted that those who had served diligently need all the support they could get from the State, stressing that ordinarily, the payment of gratuity to retirees should come immediately after retirement.
Noting that seven years is a long time for anyone who could not work to wait to get paid their benefits, the Governor disclosed that his administration was able to make the payments because it increased monthly allocation for gratuities from N100m to N180 with effect from June 2019.
He said, “what this means is we have committed N1.908b to this payment in the past one year with a total number of 886 retired civil servants, hospital workers, teaching and non-teaching staff benefitting.”
“When we came in, we still had the gratuity arrears of 2011. Now, we have completed the arrears of 2011 and 2012 and we are now on 2013,” Governor Makinde stated.
He gave the assurance that his administration would keep paying and finish paying off the debts.
The Governor added that his administration would continue doing its best to ensure that everyone in the State felt the impact of governance.
The State Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Professor Kehinde Sangodoyin said the Makinde-led administration had alleviated the sufferings of helpless retirees.
The Secretary, Nigerian Union of Pensioners in Oyo State, Mr Olusegun Abatan, commended the State government for the payment of the gratuities.
Mr Abatan urged Governor Makinde to sustain his efforts at bringing smiles on the faces of the retirees.
Some of the beneficiaries – Raji Ayinde, Rachael Ogundiran, Adeniyi Omofoye and Fausat Olanrewaju, commended the Governor for fulfilling his promise to them.
