The government also informed that it has resolved to start paying gratuity to officers of the State Government that retired from 2019 till date so as to further reduce the backlog of unpaid gratuities to retirees from the State service.

The decision, according to the State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun was reached at the last Executive Council meeting of the State on Tuesday.

Olatunbosun explained that the Council, at its 27th meeting of September 29, 2020, directed that a proposal to offset the backlog of unpaid gratuities of retired staff and an initiative to ensure the payment of gratuities of retiring staff in the Oyo State Civil Service as soon as they retire, be urgently initiated by members of a committee comprising the Secretary to the State Government, Head of Service, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, as well as the Commissioner for Finance.

“The committee presented its findings and recommendations at the last Executive Council meeting and it was proposed that the sum of #50million be set aside to cater specially for officers retiring from the service between May, 2019, and May, 2023, with a view to benchmarking the performance of the present administration in the payment of gratuity of civil/public servants.

“In view of this, the need for a modulated payment of gratuity was proposed and this has scaled up the monthly payment of #230million to#235million for the payment of the monthly release for the backlog of unpaid gratuities till the commencement of this administration, so as to keep up the pace at which the inherited backlog of the gratuities are being paid.

“The council also agreed that the increment is going to be reviewed upward as time goes in relation to improvement in the State’s financial power”, he said.

The commissioner, however  noted that payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities have been paramount to the Seyi-Makinde led administration, assuring that  no stone would be left unturned to promote the welfare of workers and retirees.

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The Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Prof. Daud Kehinde Sangodoyin and the Chairman, Local Government Service Commission and Local Government Staff Pension Board, Hon. Aderemi Ayodele made this assertion separately to journalists in Ibadan on Monday.

Sangodoyin said the process of writing to go into retirement and getting issued pension authority certificate as well as being eligible to be paid gratuity was foolproof.

He hinted that 1304 among the retirees that belonged to the State’s main stream workforce like teaching, non-teaching, civil servants and those from the judicial service commission have been paid till October with Three Billion, Sixty Million Naira.

“We have paid 1304 retirees their gratuities from June 2019 to October 2020 and the amount paid is Three Billion and Sixty Million Naira, the beneficiaries are in the categories of teaching, non-teaching, the judicial service commission and the civil servants.

“The process is simple, you write that you are retiring and follow the due process till the papers get to the Auditor-General’s office and it gets back to the Ministry of Establishment where the pension authority certificate will be issued to the recipient, then the person is said to be eligible and on queue for his or her gratuity.

“There is no need for anybody to approach a middleman to help, it is first come, first served, we have reeled out helpline numbers for anyone that has questions or has seen or heard something against the laid down rules of engagement, the numbers are: 08056904055 and 07087647032.”

The Chairman, Local Government Service Commission and Local Government Pension Board, Hon. Aderemi Ayodele said the pension board has been the flagship of the present administration as major promises made by governor Seyi Makinde during the election campaign period to workers and retirees were met.

Aderemi elucidated that the total of #4,930,689,626.38 (Four billion, nine hundred and thirty million, six hundred and eighty-nine thousand, six hundred and twenty-six naira and thirty-eight kobo) has been paid to 2,459 retirees till October 2020.

“The pension board has been the flagship of this administration because it has been the area where the current government has been extremely diligent in living up to its promises, Governor Makinde promised during campaign that he would be paying workers salaries and pensions of retirees by the 25th of every month, while also seeing a way of settling the backlog of unpaid gratuities that ran into billions during the last administration, I want to thank God for the governor for living up to expectation.

“The governor pointedly told us that no retiree of Oyo State must die before his or her entitlement is paid to him or her, that is why we have evolved measures to give a certain percentage to retirees that is certified to be seriously sick and is waiting to be paid gratuity among the waiting list.”

On workers training, the Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Prof. Daud Sangodoyin added that the State government has released #47million for the ongoing first phase of training for workers in different categories in the areas of business writing, expanded Microsoft training, leadership skills training among others.

He maintained that the government has vowed to continuously measure the impact of the training on the system and the workforce.

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The government on Monday said that the payment was for the payment of year 2011 to January 2012 gratuity for the retired civil servants and teachers under the payroll of the state government across all the Grade levels.

The State Head of Service (HoS), Mrs. Olawumi Ogunesan, while disbursing the cheques on behalf of the State Government to the beneficiaries at the Old Ministry of Establishment and Training, Secretariat, Ibadan, assured that government will continue to pay the gratuities to the pensioners based on merit without any influence or favour.

Ogunesan, who was represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service, Mrs. Adejoke Eyitayo, informed that government was making concerted efforts to ease the pains of the pensioners in the state, stressing that the disbursement was done to make life meaningful for the senior citizens who had served the state meritoriously for thirty-five years.

The HoS appealed to those that are yet to receive theirs not to lose hope, noting that efforts are in top gear towards the payment of their gratuities as soon as possible.

Mrs Ogunesan advised the beneficiaries not to venture into a business without having in-depth knowledge in such business and abstain from fraudsters who may want to dupe them.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Owoeye Taiwo and Mr. Adewuyi Ajani thanked the state government and Governor Abiola Ajimobi for releasing the huge amount of money as their gratuities despite the paucity of funds in the state.

The duo reiterated that the procedures followed in paying the money was purely on merits as nobody collected anything from them before releasing the money.

It would be recalled that State Government released the sum of Two Hundred Million, Nine hundred and Sixty three Thousand, Four Hundred and Ninety Two Naira, Eight Six Kobo (N200,963, 492.86) for the payment of year 2011, 2012 Gratuity for the retired Civil Servants of the State in Grade level 01-07 in May, 2018.

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The State Head of Service, Mrs. Olawumi Ogunesan, who made the disbursement of cheques yesterday on behalf of the State Government to the beneficiaries at the Old Ministry of Establishment and Training, Secretariat, Ibadan, explained that the payment is an attestation to the fact that the Oyo State Government is paying gratuities to pensioners based on merit and without influence or favour.

The HoS represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service, Mrs. Adejoke Eyitayo appealed to those that are yet to collect theirs to exercise patience as Government is working assiduously to pay them in due course.

Mrs. Ogunesan also revealed that the state government had earlier paid N1.3billion gratuities to retirees last year and consequently admonished the beneficiaries to use the money judiciously and be careful with fraudsters who may want to swindle them by collecting money from them unlawfully.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, two retirees, Mrs Adediran Odebisi and Mr Rasheed Akanbi appreciated the Oyo State Government for releasing the huge amount of money as their gratuities, saying that most of them have lost hope of getting it.

The duo reiterated that the procedure followed in paying the money was pure and based on merit as nobody collected anything from them before releasing the money.

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