Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, presented a total sum of N150 million in cheques to 74 pensioners as gratuities.
These gratuities were allocated to retired primary school teachers and local government staff across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.
This is as the governor promised to establish a Special Health Intervention Programme to arrest the harrowing experience of untimely death among pensioners due to poor medicare.
The Governor had on Thursday, disbursed a staggering sum of N500 million to over 140 State Civil Servants, being part of the ways to defray the gratuity arrears of retirees owed by the government.
Presenting the cheques, Oyebanji was emphatic that his government will put hands on the plough to fast-track payment of the backlog of gratuity owed pensioners so that they can fully savour the benefits of the labour made during their productive years.
Oyebanji promised that instead of the usual three-month payment of gratuity, his government would facilitate ways of ensuring monthly payments to offset the arrears expeditiously.
He promised that he would liaise with the chairmen of the councils on how to increase the monthly N50 million being budgeted for the payment of gratuity of retired Local Government staff to a sum of N100 million to cover a mileage in the mission to put a smile on the faces of retirees.
“By next year, we will do better than this. I desire that we want everybody(retirees) to be paid up to date under my watch. I want to assure you that we will be doing this every month. Let us keep faith with God. If we do this monthly, our state will no longer default in payment of gratuity.
“We can never default on the payment of pension because many of you are collecting less than N10,000 monthly. There are those who are collecting as low as N300 or N400, but the government is looking for a way to make N10,000 the least pay for everybody.
“I want you to spend this money wisely on yourselves. If you have medical issues, kindly attend to them. I have spoken to the Commissioner for Health so that we can have a special health intervention programme for pensioners to relieve you of the burden of spending your gratuity to seek medical help.
“By the grace of God, we will have a permanent solution to the issue of gratuity. You have made sacrifices and committed your lives to serve our state, I think you must be made to enjoy the fruits of your labour.”
In his submission, the Special Adviser on Pension Matters, Comrade Pius Owolabi, said the speedy payment of pension and gratuity by the current government corroborated the level of love the Governor has for retirees and his resolve to ensure that they enjoy the fruits of the labour while alive.
Owolabi appealed to the Local Government Chairmen to jack up the monthly sum of N50 million being earmarked to defray the backlog of gratuities to complement the sacrifices made by pensioners to make the lives of the youth, who are now controlling the levers of powers to enjoy quality education.
The chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners in the state, Joel Akinola appealed to his colleagues to spend the money on productive ventures, rather than frittering on inanities that would further compound their problems and shorten their lives.
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