The Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), South-West Zone, yesterday, appealed to governors in the region to expedite the payment of outstanding gratuities and pension arrears, stressing that the welfare of its members were being neglected.
While decrying the prolonged suffering of retirees, particularly in Ondo and Ekiti states, the pensioners lamented what they described as continued delay of entitlements of those who served their states diligently.
According to the retirees in a communiqué released after the NUP’s South-West Zonal Council meeting, held in Akure, Ondo State, the dire situation in Ondo State, where retirees from 2013 are only now receiving their gratuities, calls for concern.
In the communiqué signed by the Zonal Public Relations Officer of the Union, Dr Olusegun Abatan, the pensioners urged Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to take immediate action and fast-track the payments, saying the delay was particularly hard on aged retirees suffering from various health conditions.
The communique reads: “It is not gratified to inform you that Ondo State, where people are saying that ‘aiye ti datiwa,’ we are having a different thing. As I speak to you, 2013 gratuities of retirees are the benchmarks that are being paid by this government.
“Pensioners that retired in 2013 are just getting their gratuities in Ondo State, and I am talking of local council pensioners; and for state pensioners, it is only 2016 pensioners that are just getting theirs.”
NUP threatened that as a major stakeholder in the political arena of the country, its members would not vote for those that failed to cater for the welfare and well-being of pensioners during forthcoming elections in the country.
The union, however, lauded Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State for releasing the sum of N8.8 billion as their gratuity arrears, saying the NUP had seen a good change of disposition to pensioners’ welfare and well-being from the governor.
It also praised the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, for paying over N2 billion to pensioners as their gratuity arrears and pension every month in the state.
