. . . Governor Issues N2.9 Billion Naira Pension Bond

It was a carnival show at the Governor’s office as the entire Osun public workers gathered to confer award of the ‘Most Humane Governor of the Year’ on Governor Ademola Adeleke.

Spokesperson to the State Governor, Olawale Rasheed, communicated this in a statement on Thursday in Osogbo.

He stated that workers in their hundreds led by Comrade Lasun Oladele, the Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council, presented the award of the “Most Humane Governor of the Year” to the Governor with top ratings and ranking for the Governor across the sectors of the state economy and governance.

Rasheed noted that all public service union leaders took turns to reel out justification for the award.

Head of Service, Elder Ayanleye Aina, highlighted that the event was not just an award but the governor giving out of another Two Billion, Nine Hundred Million naira, pension bond made the gathering a unique one.

“Your Excellency, the entire workforce of Osun State and retirees have a lot to celebrate today as we rejoice with you on the conferment of this well-deserved award by the Labour Leaders in the State on you.

“Experience has shown very clearly that there is a wide gap between campaign promises and the actual delivery of dividends of democracy. The case of our amiable Governor is a radical departure from this position as workers and retirees have continued to benefit from the kindness of the Governor. You indeed displayed great character and integrity by fulfilling your campaign promises to the workers and pensioners in the State in many areas:

“Prior to the advent of your Administration in the State, senior workers were owed several months of unpaid half salaries, a situation that came to the national limelight. Believing that governance is a continuum, your administration has been consistently offsetting these backlog of salary and pension arrears.

“As we speak, four months’ arrears have been paid to date

“Your administration cash-backed arrears of promotions from the previous Administrations which were in millions of naira

“You broke the age long jinx of aberration of Coordinating Directors as career heads of MDAs by appointing qualified civil servants as Permanent Secretaries, an action that brought life back to the entire Civil Service. You have said this is a continuous exercise.

“You have consistently approved release of fund for officers to embark on professional training to enhance their performances at work.

“You have ensured regular and consistent payment of full salaries and pension without hindrance.

“You recently granted approval for conduct of year 2023 promotion for all categories of qualified workers across the entire gamut of the public service. As we speak, the enabling circular has been issued by the Civil Service Commission.

“You increased the monthly release of fund for the payment of gratuities for retirees at the State level by 100%, that is, from N50m to N100m.

“You increased the monthly release of fund for the new pension scheme from N175m to N350m, that is, by 100%. At the local government level, it was increased to N400m.

“Recently, you graciously approved the payment of #15,000 palliative to each worker and #10,000 to each retiree beginning from this month to cushion the effect of petroleum subsidy removal”, the Head of Service noted

Speaking further, Elder Aina, said, “There is no further testimony to your benevolence, sir, as today your Excellency is set to release bonds worth billions of naira to retirees under the new pension scheme to make life more bearable for them.

“All of these have been achieved through prudent fiscal policy that have not in any way affected the capital expenditure of government.

“Given all these, I wish to remind all public servants of the popular adage that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’. I encourage us to re-dedicate ourselves to the ideals of the Service so as to enhance our productivity, efficiency and capacity in the discharge of our official duties. This is the only way we can really appreciate the kind gestures of our Governor towards us”, he concluded.

Osun will soon Become Singapore of Nigeria– Governor Adeleke

Delivering his speech, Governor Adeleke assured Osun people of sustained pursuit of the progress of the state, saying he will continue to give priority to the welfare of workers in the state.

“Today, I am again deeply overwhelmed by the show of love and support from great Osun workers and retirees. The outpouring of affection for me and my team has further rekindled my faith in our five-point agenda for which workers’ welfare is number one.

“Some months ago, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners conferred on me the award of the most workers’ friendly governor. I was told that was the first time the union would grant such honor to a serving Governor. Here we are today again with the entire workforce of the public service acknowledging our modest contributions to the development of our dear state.

“The positive testimonies from the various unions and labour leaders attested to the correctness of our original thinking when running for the state governorship. We had analyzed the political space and concluded then that the smartest way to grow Osun is workers’ welfare. We accept and adopt the reality that human capital is a strong foundation for integrated development of the state.

“We had also spotted the nexus between formal and informal workers in the state. Easing the challenges of the public service has the tendency to uplift the economic well-being of the informal sector. These analyses were responsible for placing workers’ welfare as number one priority in our governance agenda.

“We are vindicated today as the workforce has validated our approach to governance. This vindication has challenged our team to remain focused and engaged in our relentless drive for new life for our people. I long to expand our capacity to meet the needs of the people, to deploy human development as a tool for societal transformation. We will further innovate as a government to meet workers at the point of their needs.

“I, therefore, humbly accept this award as ‘The Most Humane Governor of the Year’. Dear workers and stakeholders, I cherish this honour done to me and my team. You have further fired our existing strong interest in welfare issues for both serving and retired members of the workforce.

“It is in this direction that I have further approved the release of another tranche of bonds totaling Two Billion, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-Two Thousand, Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five kobo (N2,925,332,835.75).

“The breakdown is as follows:

“State Retirees – One Billion, Three Hundred Million Naira (N1,300,000,000.00);

“LG/Primary School Retirees- One Billion, Six Hundred and Twenty-Five Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five Thousand Naira (1,625,332,835,75);

“Permit me to list the government commitment on Pension and Gratuities from inception to November, 2023 as follows:

“(A) STATE LEVEL (Civil Servants, Parastatals, Tertiary Institutions, UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital) Retirees;

“Contributory Pension Scheme (Seven Billion, Four Hundred and Forty-Four Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighteen Kobo (7,444,851,618.16);

“Gratuities- One Billion, Two Hundred Million Naira Only (1,200.000.000.00);

“Monthly Pension – Five Billion, Nine Hundred and Ninety-Six Million, Thirty-Five Thousand Naira, Seven Hundred and Eleven Kobo (5,996,035,711.00);

“This bring state’s total to Fourteen Billion, Six Hundred and Forty Million, Eight Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty Kobo (14,640,887,330.15).

“(B) LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (Local Governments and Primary Schools’ Retirees)

“Contributory Pension Scheme is Seven Billion, Three Hundred and Eighty-Four Million, One Hundred and Seventy-Eight Thousand, Sixteen kobo (7,384,178,016.83);

“Gratuities – One Billion, Nine Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (1,950,000,000.00);

“Pension – Four Billion, One Hundred and Sixty-Six Million, Six Hundred and Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Eighty-Two kobo (4,166,609,182.61);

“Total for Local Government is Thirteen Billion, Five Hundred Million, Seven Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand, One Hundred and Ninety Kobo (13,500,787,199.44).

“Permit me to use this opportunity to commend the Head of Service, Elder Ayanleye Aina. You have been a wonderful leader of the civil service with laudable delivery in public service management. I thank you for your great service

“I extend the same commendation to top management of the service as well as middle and lower level officers. I appreciate your commitment to duty and loyalty to our common agenda for societal prosperity.

“We remain strongly pro-people, pro-workers and pro-development. We will continue to combine welfare of the people and workers with state of the art infra upgrades of our dear state. Osun is targeted to be a Singapore of Nigeria, the Governor noted.”