Paris Club Refund: Osun pensioners urge Osinbajo to monitor disbursement

The retired public civil servants of Osun State, on Tuesday called on the Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo to monitor the disbursement and utilisation of the second tranche of the Paris club refund in the state.

The chairman of the forum of 2011/2012 pensioner’s in the state, Mr Omoniyi Ilesanmi made a call while addressing a press conference in Osogbo, Osun State capital.

He lamented that pensioners and workers in state were heading towards extinction due to Governor Aregbesola’s alleged insensitivity to their plights, stressing the urgent need for Osinbajo to come to their rescue.

According to Ilesanmi, the “situations of the workers and pensioners in the state have led to unabated loss of lives of our people on daily basis as a result of non-payment of  12months salary, pension and backlog of gratuities starting from 2008 to December, 2012 amounting to N22billion naira.”

He observed that “for a responsible and responsive governor, the pathetic situation of workers and pensioners in the state does not call for a flamboyant celebration of 60th birthday as it is happening in Osun state now.”

Ilesanmi said “even if the plan to celebrate the 60th birthday had been in pipeline before, the sudden demise of Senator Isiaka Adeleke is enough for a reasonable and sensitive governor to shelve the unnecessary celebration.”

“The pensioners in Osun State are facing a lot of predicaments presently, a lot of them are bedridden while some are married to their wheel chairs till God knows when.”

“Some of the pensioners are thrown out of their rented houses due to their inability to pay the accumulated rents, forcing them to live in uncompleted and dilapidated buildings like lunatics thereby exposing them to unpleasant weather conditions which has depressed and frustrated them”, Ilesanmi remarked.

He called on the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to use his good offices and promptly direct the Minister for Finance and Central Bank Governor to release the second tranche of the Paris club refund to checkmate the rate of death of both workers and pensioners in Osun State.