Mrs. Adejoke Eyitayo presenting cheque to Mr. Rasheed Akanbi, one of the retirees of the state government.

 Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

The Oyo State Government on Thursday released the sum of N200, 963, 492.86, for the payment of year 2011, 2012 Gratuity for 201 retired Civil Servants in the State from Grade level 01-07.

The State Head of Service, Mrs. Olawumi Ogunesan, who made the disbursement of cheques on behalf of the State government to the beneficiaries at the Old Ministry of Establishment and Training, Secretariat, Ibadan, explained that the payment is an attestation to the fact that the Oyo State Government is paying gratuities to pensioners based on merit and without influence or favour.

The HoS represented by the Acting Permanent Secretary, Office of the Head of Service, Mrs. Adejoke Eyitayo appealed to those that are yet to collect theirs to exercise patience as Government is working assiduously to pay them in due course.

Mrs. Ogunesan revealed that the Oyo State Government had earlier paid N1.3 billion gratuities to retirees last year and consequently admonished the beneficiaries to use the money judiciously and be careful with fraudsters who may want to swindle them.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, two retirees, Mrs Adediran Odebisi and Mr Rasheed Akanbi appreciated the Oyo State Government for releasing the huge amount of money as their gratuities, saying that most of them have lost hope of getting it.

The duo reiterated that the procedure followed in paying the money was pure and based on merit as nobody collected anything from them before releasing the money.