Ogun Pensioners Protest ₦68bn Outstanding Gratuity, Shutdown Governor’s Office

Pensioners in Ogun state on Wednesday shutdown the Governor’s Workplace in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta in protest of the non fee of N68b 10 years excellent gratuity.

The pensioners, underneath the aegis of Native Authorities Pensioners Affiliation (LOGPAN) blocked the 2 important gates of the Governor’s Workplace secretariat, stopping the Secretary to the State Authorities (SSG), Tokunbo Talabi and different civil servants from gaining entrance for over 4 hours.

The protesters, armed with placards with inscriptions resembling: “gratuities are on gross sales to pensioners”, “Governor Dapo Abiodun honour your father and deal with Pensioners properly” and “Governor Abiodun Abiodun, we don’t deserve this worst humiliation”, amongst others accused the state governor of failing to maintain his guarantees to the pensioners.

Addressing journalists, the State Chairman of LOGPAN, Sikiru Ayilara lamented that, a few of them nonetheless earn paltry sum of N3,000 as month-to-month pension.

Ayilara described the quarterly fee of N500 million by the governor which in response to him would take 34 years to clear all of the gratuities as “a depraved act” which is unacceptable.

He known as for the overview of the coverage by voting N1billion month-to-month as a substitute of fee of N500m quarterly.

In accordance with him, the affiliation had written 13 letters to the governor looking for his viewers to handle their calls for, a the governor has remained recalcitrant and unyielding to calls for”.

He listed a few of their calls for to incorporate, non-payment of gratuities, lateness of pension fee, non-increment within the month-to-month pensions and discrimination in opposition to the members of the affiliation by the federal government amongst others.

Ayilara insisted that, it’s unlawful for the state authorities to be paying their pension by means of the Ministry of Finance as a substitute of the Bureau of Native authorities pensions.

“Now we have written 13 letters to the Governor by means of numerous channels with out response. We had knowledgeable all safety equipment within the state: DSS, Commissioner of police, Commandant of NSCDC, SSA on safety issues to the Governor. All of them intervened with none optimistic response from the Governor.

“We had knowledgeable all of the 4 paramount rulers within the state with no consequence. We had held six conferences with the SSG, Chief of Workers, Head of Service, Commissioner for LG and Chieftaincy Affairs, amongst different notable authorities officers.

“Governor Abiodun ought to honour us; grandfathers and grandmothers and direct his private consideration to us for us to satisfy and discover lasting resolution to the inhuman remedies being meted to us at our outdated age, resulting in premature demise demise amongst us after serving the state for between 10 and 35 years.

“We demand rapid harmonisation of the pensions. We demand common fee of our pensions because it was.”

Responding to the pensioners, the SSG, Tokunbo Talabi appealed to the pensioners to be extra affected person with the federal government, saying “the federal government is at the moment experiencing arduous occasions.”

He assured that the federal government would look into the demands of the pensioners.