We are not owing workers, retirees —Kwara

The Kwara State government has said it is up to date with payment of salaries and entitlements to state workers and retirees.

This clarification follows a media report which claimed that some pensioners in the state had died since April 2015 as a result of unpaid pension allowances.

The government, in a statement issued by Dr Muideen Akorede, Senior Special Assistant on media and communication to the governor,  on Sunday, emphasised that local councils were responsible for the payment of allowances to the local government retirees referred to in the media report.

“Local government councils in the state, which receive separate allocations from the Federal Government, are responsible for the said pensioners and have varying degrees of staff and pension arrears,” the statement read.

The statement noted that the councils had been unable to pay their workers and retirees regularly for the past few months, due to the drop in federal allocations accruing to them.

According to the statement, the non-payment of salaries and pension is not peculiar to local government councils in Kwara State, noing that most local government areas were facing similar challenges, which it said, is reflective of the current financial situation of the country.