- Resources’ll be utilised in Osun people’s interest-Gov’s media aide
Less than a day after the Osun State Government announced its receipt of the sum of N6.3billion Paris Loan refund from the Federal Government, retirees under the aegis of 2011/2012 Pensioners Forum in the state have stormed the streets of Osogbo, demanding the settlement of their gratuities and pension arrears by Governor Rauf Aregbesola from the newly received fund.
The angry pensioners threatened to make the state ungovernable if Aregbesola failed to yield to their demands.
According to the Chairman of the factionalised group of pensioners, Comrade Omoniyi Ilesanmi, “We are the people who worked diligently after the creation of Osun State. Aregbesola should use the N6.3billion Paris loan refund he just got to pay us our pension allowance, otherwise he would find this state ungovernable.”
The pensioners had converged on the frontage of the Osun State Secretariat complex in their hundreds on Wednesday around 8:00am and prevented civil servants and other top government functionaries from entering their offices.
Chanting anti-government songs and displaying varying placards bearing various inscriptions, the pensioners vowed to make their protests a daily affair until their outstanding gratuities and pensions were paid.
The protesters also stopped vehicular movement from the Owode end of Gbongan-Ibadan expressway after barricading the roads.
Comrade Ilesanmi, while quoting from Section 210 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, which he said stated that anybody in the public service, either local, state or Federal is entitled to his or her benefits in form of pension and gratuity after retirement, noted that, “Aregbesola had failed in all ramifications.
“He (Aregbesola) has been paying us half pension allowance monthly since July 2015, which is contrary to the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as amended. If you go to the market, price of all commodities have gone up. The full pension allowance is not even enough not to talk of half pension since July, 2015. Right now, he is owing us unpaid one year pension allowance.
“We need to continue this agitation. Over 2,000 of our members have died. Just day before yesterday, we lost another person in Ede and about 800 retirees are bedridden, while some are married to their wheelchairs. This is sheer wickedness. Where was Aregbesola when this state was created and we laboured to ensure its survival and development only to be treated like this”, he lamented.
Reacting to the protest, the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy to Aregbesola, Mr Semiu Okanlawon asked the pensioners to tender an apology to the governor and the people of the state for claiming that the state had received the second tranche of the Paris Club refund during their last protest.
The statement issued read, ” It is interesting to note that about a month ago, this same set of pensioners accused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of collecting and diverting the second tranche of Paris loan refund, which they claimed had been released to Osun State by the Federal Government.
“As they have come out today, the elderly citizens should apologise not only to Aregbesola, but also to the good people of Osun State for misinforming, confusing and creating tension in the state through their false claim that the governor had received the second tranche of Paris loan refund about a month ago.
“As I have said, Osun State Government, with its commitment to transparency under the leadership of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, made the announcement yesterday (Tuesday) to confirm the receipt of N6.314billion as the second tranche of Paris loan refund from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“The money was paid into the account of the state government on Monday and we duly made the announcement yesterday, informing the public that Osun has got the second tranche of Paris loan refund.
“In line with our government’s promise to utilise the resources of this state in the best interest of our people, we hereby restate our commitment to this promise as we begin shortly transparent deployment on our commitments to the concerned stakeholders.”
