Pensioners in Ekiti State have appealed to Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, to hit the ground running to bring development, peace and happiness to the state by correcting past ills and bad governance by past administrations in the state.
The Ekiti State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Joel Akinola, advised the governor to be selective in the much-emphasised continuity, saying, “You can only continue with what is good; don’t continue with bad governance. Take only those good sides of past administrations along with your plans to help your government and jettison the bad ones.”
Akinola spoke in Ado Ekiti on Friday at a prayer session organised by the pensioners “to hand the new government in the state led by Oyebanji over to God for guidance and direction to succeed,” saying such was part of the elderly people’s way of assisting the new governor.
He said, “This state needs to be rebuilt in the sense that many things have gone wrong. Ideally, this state should be a model for other states in the federation. Is it in terms of human resources or other natural resources? We are well endowed but unfortunately, we have had the problem of leadership that could effectively manage the resources for the development and excellence of the state.
“Our expectation of the new governor is to bring development and peace to this state, to help us in terms of security, especially for our pensioners. We want him to face our problems squarely. As pensioners, we need his impact urgently. He should attend to us immediately because we are hungry and dying.
“We have humongous arrears of unpaid gratuities, about N40bn that past governments have refused to attend to. Local government pensioners were last paid gratuities in 2012, some of which are still outstanding, while state pensioners were last paid in 2013.”
According to Akinola, the government is owing local government pensioners seven months’ arrears of pension while state pensioners are owed three months’ arrears of pension.
These, he said, were beside the non-adjustment of their pensions.
He added. “The government owes us over six months of unpaid check-off dues, i.e., deductions from our pension. We were last paid in March.
“It will embarrass you that we have pensioners who are still receiving N4, 000 a month as pension in Ekiti, whereas the Nigerian Constitution stipulates that pensions should be reviewed every five years or any time the salary of workers is being reviewed. Pensioners in Ekiti are yet to witness the last minimum wage adjustment of 2019.
“All these things are affecting our members in terms of welfare and feeding. An average pensioner has one illness or the other to manage, and we need money to access medical facilities and buy drugs. If you don’t eat well, even if you have the drugs, how will they be effective?
“At the close of the Fayemi administration on October 15, we had lost over 300 pensioners to death for his refusal to pay our gratuities and pensions. We have more than 400 bedridden because they cannot access medical facilities and, as well, lack money to properly take care of themselves. It is unfortunate.”
Akinola added, “Former Governor Kayode Fayemi began non-payment of gratuities to pensioners during his first tenure. His successor, Ayodele Fayose built on what he met on the ground, and Fayemi returned to consolidate it. Oyebanji should look at this as a matter of urgency.”
