Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, on Tuesday, assured workers in the state that he would not disappoint them on the new minimum wage for workers.
Oyebanji, who spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, during the presentation of N1b gratuities cheques to retirees, expressed hope that he would offset all outstanding pension arrears before the year ending.
The governor said, “On minimum wage, once it becomes a law when the President signs it into law, all will be well. The only thing I know, I am here to serve you. Let us wait, at the appropriate time, all will be well. One thing I know is that I am not going to disappoint you.”
The Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the N70,000 National Wage Bill into law as forwarded to them by the President, Bola Tinubu, earlier the same day.
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Oyebanji, speaking on local government autonomy, said, “We don’t have a problem with that judgment in Ekiti State. The local governments here (in Ekiti) enjoy financial autonomy and they are democratically elected local governments. We have to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court.
The governor assured the senior citizens that he would always be there for them, saying, “Pensioners are a critical part of our policies, they have worked for the state, they served the state and they deserve the best. We are not doing them a favour, they worked for these benefits and we must pay them”.
He, on behalf of the state government, apologised to the pensioners for the delay that they had endured over the gratuities.
On the occasion, 450 pensioners were handed cheques for their gratuities totalling N1b.
Oyebanji said, “Today and in this batch, we are paying out a total sum of N1b only to this batch while continuing with the monthly gratuity payment of N20m to both state and local government pensioners.
“I am proud to say we have paid in total, the sum of N12.56b as pensions since we assumed office. Similarly, this administration has paid a cumulative sum of N2.3b as a gratuity to our retired senior citizens. That is apart from the gratuity already paid to local government retirees.
“I am assuring those on the waiting list to keep hope alive as the government is doing everything possible to see that more people are paid very soon. Our ultimate objective is to completely liquidate all gratuity arrears in a short distant time.
“In addition, we have ensured that retirees are not left behind in the payment of wage awards to Ekiti government workers. Similarly, I am glad to mention that we have cleared all arrears of pension owed state pensioners totalling N1.14b earlier in the year, while about N150m outstanding deductions have been paid”.
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners State Chairman, Mr Joel Akinola, who lauded Oyebanji for his gesture to pensioners, said disbursement of a whopping N1b to gratuities to pensioners never happened in Ekiti until under the present governor.
Akinola assured the governor that money paid to pensioners would be spent in Ekiti State and enhance the state economy.
The NUP State Chairman expressed gratitude to the governor, saying, “Our welfare has improved. The free health scheme for the elderly has also benefitted us immensely, Health is wealth”.
He, however, advised beneficiaries to use the money judiciously to take care of themselves and avoid falling prey to dubious investors who would begin to knock on their doors.
