The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ogun state Chapter has accused Governor Dapo Abiodun of playing games with the backlog of their gratuity which they estimated at about N64.4 billion.
Speaking at a press conference in Abeokuta, the state capital on Thursday, Ogun NUP Chairman, Alh. Waheed Oloyede on Thursday lamented that only N3.6 billion out of N68 billion owed pensioners has been paid as at July 2014.
Oloyede said the conference was organised to specially draw attention of the people of the state and indeed the entire nation to the horrendous plight of the senior citizens under the government of Prince Dr. Dapo Abiodun.
They have paid 3.6 billion and are still owing 64.4 billion naira and gratuity was paid last in the state at July 2014 while primary and local government pensioners were paid up till September 2012.
The money is much and that is why we are appealing to government that if they increase the quarterly releases to two billion it would relive and add more to the pensioners.
The pensioners expressed their disappointment that despite being the son of teachers, Governor Dapo Abiodun has failed to keep his promise to give succour to pensioners.
His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun visited our Secretariat and we narrated our ordeal in the hands of his predecessor as it affected humongous unpaid gratuities among others.
Interestingly, His Excellency promised to bail us out if elected since governance is a continuum. As Senior Citizens who value promise made and duly kept, we supported him wholeheartedly and voted massively for him but what followed actually, to say the least fell short of our expectations.”
The pensioners said while they appreciated the release of N600 million by the government for payment of gratuity for the third quarter of the year 2022, the amount is too small add did not reflect the magnitude of the colossal arrears still outstanding.
With such paltry releases, the pensioners said it would take over 35 years for the recent retirees to ever think of collecting due gratuities.
The pensioners appealed to Governor Abiodun to have a change of heart in treatment of the elderly who had toiled hard for the state.
It should be noted that General Elections is lurching around the corner throughout the nation and as such “One Good turn deserves another”, so in the same vain, “A bad turn deserves what it gets”.
It is never too late to make amends. As elders, we shall not keep quiet till our demands are met,” they stressed.
