Victor EzejaLagos State Pensioners have said they were still being owed not less than N30 billion unpaid benefits by the state government.
This is even as the pensioners under the aegis of Association of Retirees and Pension Fund Administrators (PFA) Pensioners lamented that the government has not settle those retired since 2018.
In a statement, Chairman of the Association, Lagos State Chapter, Michael Omisande, while reacting to a comment credited to the state Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pension, that the government had cleared the debt, pointed out that that was not the true position.
Omisande said the state has neglected the welfare of pensioners even when it is the richest across the federation in terms of revenue generation, noting that the senior citizens under the contributory scheme were being ravaged by hunger, sickness and Poverty as a result of the situation.
His words, “Lagos State Government has failed to care for the state’s retired workers from 2018 to date. It is the richest state in the federation and yet cannot pay her Contributory Pensioners their entitlement until three to four years after retirement. How will the pensioners survive if not by God’s mercy? If the truth must be told, the state retirees are languishing in hunger, sickness and abject poverty.
“Will it not be better to declare a state of emergency on Pension matters in Lagos State? We advise the state government to demand for a bailout from the Federal Government to enable the state pay the outstanding of just N30 billion debt to the elderly who have laboured to build the state of excellence.”
The group chairman alleged that some people he described as “sycophants” were blocking the retirees from having access to the state governor to let him know the true position about their welfare, adding that the authories in charge of managing pension affairs were only attending to those on Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS) while abandoning those on Contributory Pension.
“I have told the commissioner that some retirees who retired as far back as 2018 have not been settled. She admitted and explained that they fall under the 15 per cent arrears still pending to be cleared and that the government inherited N50 billion debt. Until the remaining arrears are cleared, she explained that there will still be delay in payment. According to her, Lagos budgets N1 billion every month to clear the backlog,” he further stated.
On the issue of inherited debt, Omisande said such excuse is a cheap way of evading the truth.
“We have said earlier that Lagos State Government will fail in a bid to continue to lie. They claim to inherit debt from the previous administrations. Have they not inherited assets from the previous governments?” He queried.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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