The Governor Adams Oshiomhole led administration of Edo, which took over government on November 12, 2008, inherited pension and gratuity arrears from 1998.
Comrade Didi Adodo, the state Commissioner for Establishment and Special Duties who disclosed this to newsmen in Benin, on Wednesday, said the arrears of these gratuity and pension have been cleared to 2011 by the present administration. He said the governor deserve commendation and not condemnation on issue regarding workers welfare, especially the pensioners.
Adodo revealed that Oshiomhole rescinded an earlier decision to pay pension and gratuity of only those who retire under his administration, by clearing the backlog left behind by the government of Chief Lucky Igbinedion. The commissioner who acknowledged that some pensioners were been owed arrears, however said it was not true that some were been owed arrears of about 42 months.
People should know Oshiomhole government has done more to ameliorate the plight of pensioners in the state than any other government. Thousands of pensioners, including the military government of Adamu Iyang and administration of Chief Lucki Igbinedion, who retired thousands of workers without paying any gratuity and pension to any. When Oshiomhole came in, his jettisoned the plan of paying only those who retire under him. He started by paying from 1998 and as I speak, we have cleared the backlog up to 2011. We are currently working on the batches, before the pension board was dissolved. In another week or so, these people will receive their entitlements. I do not know where this issue of being owed pensioners 42 months arises from. It is true that we are owing some few months arrears and not as been exaggerated to 42 months. Moreover, the pensioners themselves should be majorly blamed for these arrears. Why I say this is that most of them do not fill their papers on time. The fact is that the law says someone planning to retire should fill their papers six months before the retirement date. But what we experience is that most don’t, until they are finally retired. Some even do so years after retirement. They don’t know that this thing takes time to process. When they fill on time, we have plenty time to process and not when you do so late, you expect your papers to be processed overnight.
Adodo who noted that the dissolved pension board has not in any way affected processing of pensioners papers, said that an office has since been opened to take care of that.
Yes, the pension board was dissolved sometime last year, but that has not anyway affected processing of papers, as I speak with, work is going on smoothly in the office opened to handle such matter, stated Adodo.
The commissioner said the government was working out plan that will see to pensioners receiving their pension immediately after retirement.