Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekiti
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Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, has assured pensioners  in the state of better welfare package under the Kayode Fayemi

administration.

Egbeyemi said the Fayemi administration is deeply concerned about the

suffering of pensioners and will do everything possible to give them a new lease of life.

The Deputy Governor made the remarks on Tuesday while appearing at theNational Pensioners’ Day Celebration held in Ado-Ekiti, the statecapital.

According to a statement signed by his Special Assistant (Media),

Odunayo Ogunmola, Egbeyemi promised that government will look into the demands of the pensioners to make life easier for them.

He urged the pensioners to vote massively for President Muhammadu

Buhari and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in the 2019 general elections for Ekiti to enjoy more goodies from the Federal

Government.

Egbeyemi explained that Ekiti must maintain connection with the

Federal Government to benefit from execution of capital projects like

rail line and access financial support to better the welfare of its citizens.

The Deputy Governor promised that government will pay the pensioners

alongside workers’ salaries to ensure that there are no arrears of monthly pensions

Egbeyemi lamented a situation in which pensioners are feeding their jobless children who are graduates and their wives saying such

scenario is unacceptable.

He also described public officers stealing pension funds as ‘murderers’ stressing that “pensioners ought to be paid their gratuities within two months of retirement as obtainable in advanced

countries.”

Egbeyemi also promised the commitment of the administration towards

implementing first retired first paid policy to ensure that pensioners get their benefits as and when due.

The deputy governor advised the pensioners to form themselves into

cooperatives to access loans from a World Bank agency for maize and

cassava planting to boost their economic status.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ekiti State Branch, Elder Ayo Kumapayi, accused former Governor Ayo Fayose of

stopping the increment of the pension approved by the Fayemi administration in 2014.

Kumapayi, who appealed for the restoration of the increment complained

that the outstanding gratuities debt had increased from N1.587 billion to N20 billion in the last four years

The Ekiti NUP boss also claimed that the Fayose administration failed

to harmonise pensions as and when due in accordance with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in Section 173(3), 210(3) which holds that pension shall be reviewed every five years.

Kumapayi therefore appealed to the state government to address all

anomalies for pensioners’ welfare to improve.