Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has presented bond cheques worth N1,999,908,887.33 to contributory pensioners in the state.
Adeleke made the presentation on Monday at a labour event held to mark his second year in office in Osogbo, the state capital.
According to the Governor, the bond cheques were in addition to the N22,671,217,893.24 earlier paid to state pensioners and N25 billion paid to local government pensioners, making it over N47 billion paid in two years.
Adeleke said the gesture was to reaffirm his commitment to the welfare of workers and senior citizens of the state, stressing that their contribution to the development of the state would not go in vain.
He noted that both state and local government workers who are now retired must be treated with the dignity and care that their position currently requires.
The governor said, “It is my privilege to address our senior citizens today as we again fulfill our obligations and responsibilities. As we have done in the last two years, we are here to further reaffirm our commitment to the care and welfare of our senior citizens.
“From the beginning of our administration, we have left no one in doubt as to our passion to address challenges facing pensioners and the pension sector. We had declared then that senior citizens deserve due attention from state leadership as a matter of duty.”
Adeleke, who restated his commitment to prioritize pension matters, vowed to resolve individual and personal issues plaguing the sector, promising that all retirees would get their retirement benefits without any stress.
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He explained that his government was working to standardize pension administration in the state to ensure that pensioners are treated with dignity.
The governor added that he had committed himself to doing everything possible to make life easier for Osun retirees after their service to the state, particularly in the area of their healthcare.
“We added a life-changing policy, the enrolment of pensioners in the health insurance scheme. This has eased access to health care for our senior citizens. Our love, care and support for pensioners is therefore not a political gimmick. It is about doing the right thing.
“As much as we still have a lot of ground to cover, we have started on a strong note. We have proved to our elderly people that we are with them, that we seriously care about their well-being,” he said.
Adeleke also disclosed that his government, which paid well over N47b in pension settlement, had surpassed the two previous administration’s N34b paid in twelve years.
While thanking pensioners for their services to the state, the Governor assured current workers of his unalloyed commitment to their welfare, which he said was topmost on his five-point agenda.
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