Don’t mislead public on your indebtedness to retirees, pensioners cautions Aregbesola

THE Forum of 2011/2012 pensioners in Osun, on Friday warned Governor Rauf Aregbesola to desist from deploying falsehood to defend his government indebtedness to retirees in the state.

They contended it was misleading and amount to total falsehood on the part of the state government to claim that it does not owe workers and pensioners their monthly salaries and pension in the state.

In a press statement signed by chairman and leader of Forum of Retirees in Osun, Comrade Omoniyi Ilesanmi and Comrade Yemi Lawal respectively, a copy of which was made available to Saturday Tribune, the pensioners said “this is to correct the erroneous impression that Osun State government is putting across to the public that it does not owe workers and pensioners their salaries and allowances.”

According to the statement, “it is very unfortunate that Osun State governor has been ruling with falsehood since inception of this administration. The true situation about the payment of of monthly salary, pension and gratuity in the state is that the government started paying 50% of monthly salary and pension since July, 2015 up to August, 2017.”

“This mean that workers and pensioners workers and pensioners are owed 26 months of half salary and pension. This translates to 13 months. After much pressure and agitations from workers and pensioners, the governor paid 2 halves of July and August, 2015 salary and pension, thereby reducing the arrears to 12 months while the gratuity between 2008 and 2012 reman unpaid.”

But, the Special Adviser to Aregbesola on Information and Strategy, Mr Semiu Okanlawon, described the claims of the retirees as baseless, explaining the payment of modulated salary and pension to workers and pensioners since July 2015 was as a result of mutual agreement between the labour unions and government.

He stated, “remove politics and sentiments, there is no way these group of pensioners can justify their claims that Aregbesola is not being truthful over claims on salaries and pensioners and we have resisted all temptations to accuse them of being tools in the hands of some politicians.”

“If we have, since 2015, agreed on formula for payment of salaries and pensions in a strategic way to ensure no one is left out, how can anyone who is sincere now say the government is misleading the public. The point is that there is a subsisting agreement based on available resources that workers on Levels 1-8, 8-10 and 12-17 be paid 100%, 75% and 50% of their salaries and same thing applicable to passive workers,” Okanlawon remarked.

However, the retirees maintained that “what we have enumerated is the true position of government’s indebtedness to worker and pensioners in the state. Anything contrary to this is not true. Fortunately, the federal government has declared that it has made available enough funds to debtor’s states, including Osun State, to pay all outstanding salaries, pension and gratituty.”

“In the light of the above fact, we appeal to the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, to kindly use the funds released to him to pay all outstanding entitlements at least to stem down the rate of avoidable death among workers and pensioners,” the statement added.