Lagos State Chairman, Association of Retirees and PFA (Pension Fund Administrators) Pensioners, Comrade Michael Omisande, has urged the state to seek bailout from the Federal Government to pay pensioners.
Omisande made this known in a statement, yesterday, while reacting to a claim in one of the national newspapers by Commissioner for Establishment, Pension and Training that the state government has cleared the N35 billion owed pensioners.
He said: “We have said earlier that they will fail in a bid to continue to lie. They claim to have inherited debt from previous administrations. Have they not inherited any assets from the previous governments?
“You failed to care for your retired officers from 2018 till date and you are claiming to be the best. Is it because Lagos is the richest state in the federation and cannot pay her Contributory Pensioners their entitlement until three to four years after retirement?
“How will they survive if not by God’s mercy? Yet the state is a pacesetter and her former staff are languishing in hunger, sicknesses and abject poverty. Will it not be better to declare a state of emergency on pension matters in Lagos State?
“We advice you to demand a bailout from the Federal Government to enable you to pay your outstanding N30 billion debt to the elderly, who have laboured to build the state of excellence.”
Omisande said posterity will never forgive sycophants blocking the ways of retirees and pensioners in the state.
He described the governor as passionate and worker-friendly but having poor advisers. “We want to assure all the retirees and PFA Pensioners that they will all live a better life soon,” he added.
