World enews: Osun State Retirees Protest As Governor Oyetola Claims N300million Pension Arrears Released

The Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, has stated that he released pension arrears of N300million for retired civil servants and workers in the state, Daily Post reports.
This was contained in a statement by the Head of Service in the state, Dr. Festus Oyebade, saying the fund made available would cater to 1,501 retirees.

According to this newspaper, the statement showed that the N300million was not part of the statutory remittances that the governor makes available monthly.
The statutory remittance according to the statement includes the sum of N508million approved for the payment of retired civil servants and an additional sum of N150million approved for the payment of retirees under the contributory pension scheme.
Oyebade also stated the names of selected retirees had been posted on the notice board of the Ministry of Information and Civic Orientation, State Pension Bureau, Local Government Pension Bureau and the Office of the Head of Service.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday some groups of pensioners, who said they had not been paid their gratuities since 2016, began a peaceful protest to press home their demands.
The protesting pensioners, who were seen carrying different placards and chanting anti-government songs in different parts of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, revealed that the Oyetola-led administration had refused to pay them their gratuities, pensions and 30 months half salary arrears which have been accruing since 2016.
They claimed that all the noise about the pension was just ordinary political talk as nothing had been firmly done to take care of their pensions and gratuities.
They accused Governor Oyetola of being the brain behind the half salary they were paid during the administration of Rauf Aregbesola.
”There is no way the governor can exonerate himself from the half salary issue because, under the past administration of Rauf Aregbesola, he was the Chief Of Staff,” they alleged.