The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on Governor Ademola Adeleke to offer an unreserved apology to pensioners in the state for failing to fulfill his campaign pledge to clear the backlog of their contributory pensions within six months of taking office.
In a statement released by Chief Kola Olabisi, the party’s Director of Media and Information, the APC expressed disappointment with the Adeleke-led government’s handling of its campaign commitments. The party contended that the recent announcement of the release of N2.1 billion bond certificates for the payment of accrued right benefits to retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) highlighted the administration’s lack of sincerity.
The statement from the state Head of Service, Mr. S.A. Aina, indicated that the beneficiaries of the pension payment include retired staff from various sectors, such as local government areas, local council development areas, area councils, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), secondary schools, tertiary institutions, and parastatals.
The APC raised concerns over the lack of transparency in the allocation of funds for different segments of the retired workforce, suggesting that the administration might be concealing certain figures. The party’s chairman, Lawal, criticized the Adeleke administration for what he perceived as a lack of empathy towards pensioners, characterizing its actions as ineffective and devoid of progress.
Lawal highlighted the significant financial shortfall in the government’s pension payment scheme, estimating that if the administration continues to allocate N500 million every month for the next 48 months, it would amount to only N24 billion, which falls significantly short of the outstanding liabilities at both state and local government levels.
“For nine months now, Adeleke has been able to pay less than N4bn plus the local government liabilities of the pension. If we divide 48 months by four times, he would only be able to pay N12bn in four years of his tenure.
“The immediate-past Governor Gboyega Oyetola paid the Contributory Pension Scheme of the civil servants, parastatals and secondary school retirees on the CPS from 2016 to April 2018 and paid in full all the retirees on the CPS whose bonds were between N100K and N2m in full till December 2020. In all, despite poor state of finances, the Oyetola administration paid over N40 billion to settle pensions and N97 billion from the state indebtedness.
“Why is it difficult or impossible for Governor Adeleke to paste the names of the beneficiaries of the questionable pension bonds as it was the practice during his predecessor’s tenure if truly he has nothing to hide?
“The retired primary school teachers CPS pensioners are still in 2016. Adeleke should tell the whole world which one he is paying if he has nothing to conceal?
“Now that the local government councils are bouyant, why is Adeleke wasting their funds on phantom contracts instead of releasing chunk funds to these hapless retirees to save their lives and jump-start the economy of the state by releasing their bond certificates as he promised to do within six months in his campaign promise?
“Governor Adeleke should tell the public how many retirees would be paid and what are their names? How many school teachers would benefit and what are their identities?
“What is the meaning of this ‘talk-and-do’ in the face of these malfeasance and man inhumanity to man? What Adeleke is doing to these retirees is a crying scandal.
“Which month is Adeleke paying in the civil service, the parastatals, the secondary school teachers or is he paying only the retirees from Ede?
“Is Governor Adeleke following the register of the pensioners; is it that there is no favouritism in the process that his government.
The Osun State APC urged Governor Adeleke to issue a public apology to pensioners for the unfulfilled promises and criticized his administration’s handling of pension payments, expressing doubt about its transparency and effectiveness.