The Chairman of the Oyo State Local Government Staff Pension Board, Hon. Akeem Ademola Ige, has announced that the board will disburse N1.7 billion as gratuity and death benefits to public primary school teachers and local government staff retirees in September.
Ige made this known while receiving the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council , Chief Ademola Babalola, in his office at the state secretariat in Ibadan.
According to Ige, the state governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, is passionate about the welfare of pensioners in the state and has increased the monthly allocation of funds to the board from N250 million to N500 million.
He also revealed that the governor has approved a new payment plan, which will see pensioners receive their payments every three months, instead of the initial four months.
Ige highlighted other initiatives put in place by the board, including the payment of pension on the 25th of every month, payment of backlog of gratuity, monthly payment of palliatives of Fifteen Thousand Naira wage award (#15,000) to pensioners, yearly payment of Ten Thousand Naira (#10,000) christmas bonus , the enrollment of all pensioners in the state on the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme .
He further stated that the board recently organized sensitization training programme for prospective retirees across all the geo-political zones in the state towards having a hitch free processing of their retirement benefits.
The chairman also warned prospective retirees against patronizing racketeering agents who have been known to rip off unsuspecting retirees of their hard-earned money while trying to process their retirement benefits.
He assured that the board has put in place a decentralization plan to assist in mitigating the pressure on retirees during the compulsory screening exercise.
Responding, the NUJ chairman, Ademola Babalola, commended the board for its efforts in addressing the plight of retirees in the state and urged them not to relent in doing their best for the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the board, Alhaji Lukman Akinola Muraina and the Director of Finance and Supplies, Mrs Temitayo Adeyemo were in attendance during the visit.