2012 Edo retirees protest non-payment of gratuity as Obaseki increases minimum wage to N40,000

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3 years ago

Godwin Obaseki

Edo State pensioners who retired in 2012 used the occasion of the 2022 May Day otherwise known as Workers Day to protest against the non-payment of their gratuities, 10 years after they left the service of the state.

The senior citizens, who were at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, the venue of the Workers Day rally, said that the announcement of a N40,000 minimum wage by Governor Godwin Obaseki amounted to nothing if those 2ho served the state for a period of 35 and retired meritorious were denied their terminal benefits over a decade after they retired.

Governor Obaseki had in his address at the occasion, announced a new minimum wage of N40,000 for Edo State civil servants and called on the Federal Government to declare an emergency to food insecurity.

The protesting pensioners who dorned all-black attires and carried placards appealed to Obaseki to rescue them by paying them their gratuities.

Speaking to journalists at the rally, one of the pensioners, Irene Aiguobarueghian, said since their retirement, they had only been getting their monthly pay but had yet to get their gratuity.

“We have come here to come and beg the governor to please pay us. Since 2012, he has collected our money and he has not paid us; till now he has not said anything about our gratuity, we are begging him to pay us. We have been receiving monthly pay but he has not said anything about our gratuity,” the septuagenarian lamented.

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Governor Obaseki, while alluding to the issue of the backlogs of gratuity, said to avoid such cases of pensioners being owed, his administration had keyed into the contributory pension scheme just as he said his administration had paid all pension arrears and would soon commence the next stage which is the various adjustments that had been made in the past.

“We are not a government that runs away from responsibilities, we will look for a way out to clear all the gratuities. We have cleared all the pension arrears and we will now focus on all the adjustments. I have directed that all the harmonised amounts we have agreed upon, we will begin payment by May this year.

“The purchasing power of an average worker continues to decrease. I want to appeal to the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on food insecurity, if this is not done, we cannot predict what will happen next.

“For optimum performance of our workers, we have resolved to do an upward review of the salary of workers of Edo State so the Edo State Government has now resolved to increase the minimum wage of Edo State civil servants to N40,000 per month,” the governor announced.

Earlier in their speeches, the two workers’ unions, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) applauded the governor on the development of infrastructure in the state.

The Acting State Chairman of NLC, Comrade Odion Olaye, called on the state government to equip members of the vigilante who have been providing security and called for proper funding of the state-owned tertiary institutions by reviewing the ratio 65%:35% subvention.

He also appealed to the state House of Assembly to vote for local government autonomy and autonomy for judicial workers in the ongoing review of the 1999 constitution, just as he urged the government to reconstruct all dilapidated public schools, where students still learn without chairs and roofs.