The Ondo State Governor, Hon. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has flagged off the payment of ₦1.4 billion to pensioners who retired from the local government and primary school system in 2014.
Aiyedatiwa disclosed that the gesture continued his administration’s commitment to paying the backlog of the state’s unpaid gratuities of retired workers.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Akure, Governor Aiyedatiwa described the gesture as a continuation of the bulk gratuity payment initiative he introduced while serving as Deputy Governor. This initiative aimed to clear the backlog of unpaid entitlements and restore retirement confidence.
He explained that the disbursement followed his administration’s structured payment process, which uses the year of exit from public service as the sole qualification criterion, to ensure fairness, transparency and predictability.
He said, “I started this even when I was Deputy Governor. I presented a case to the then-Governor, which he approved for us, and we started the initiative of saving money. Periodically, whenever we have a sufficient allocation, we set aside some money to cover the gratuities of our retirees.
This will continue now that we are entirely in charge as Governor.
“This exercise being undertaken today is in line with our payment process, which has the year of exit from public service as the only factor for qualification for payment. We thank God Almighty for enabling us to restore hope to our pensioners, who, before now, had lost hope of ever being paid their gratuity in full after meritorious service to the state and humanity in general.
“The bulk payment for the 2014 set of pensioners we are flagging off today further demonstrates our commitment to the welfare of the elderly and vulnerable sections of our population, which aligns with this administration’s policy thrust. We desire to adopt and consistently apply the year of exit as the sole qualification for bulk payment, making the process transparent and predictable and ensuring no one is discriminated against.”
The governor added that the bulk payments for the 2011, 2012, and 2013 sets under his administration were unprecedented in the state’s history.
He said, “Today, we are exiting 2014, and very soon, we will exit 2015, and so on, until everybody is cleared. Since we assumed office, we have paid serious and deliberate attention to the welfare of pensioners in Ondo State. The state is one of the few in Nigeria to grant an upward review of a flat rate of ₦30,000 to pensioners, to cushion the effect of the global economic meltdown affecting Nigeria.”
Governor Aiyedatiwa maintained that the government does not consider the prompt payment of pension allowances as an achievement but as a moral and constitutional duty.
