Four weeks after approval Ogun pensioners await payment of gratuity

Pensioners

Four weeks after Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun approved N12.5billion for the payment of its workers backlog of salary deductions arrears, pension and gratuities to retirees, the affected retirees are yet to be paid their gratuities.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Taiwo Adeoluwa, had stated: “Out of the amount (12.5billion), N6billion would be used to clear the backlog of gratuities from November 2012 to January 2014.”

But some of the affected retirees who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Guardian recently, said: “Before we received the news we had
turned into beggars as we cannot feed our families. The news was therefore a great relief to us but four weeks after, we are still waiting and nobody is telling us anything.”

The government however, on Wednesday, December 28 paid N1.5billion as severance allowance to 663 retired political appointees.

The Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, (NUP), Bola Lawal confirmed to The Guardian on the phone that none of the affected retirees had been paid and he did not know why.

When The Guardian contacted the Permanent Secretary of Bureau of State Pension, Mr. Tunde Agbaje, he said: “After the approval there are some procedures, some paper work, we have to do.

“Those affected are about 2,000, we are still working on them and very soon all the affected ones will be paid.”