Governor Fayemi of Ekiti State

Ekiti State Government has promised prompt payment of benefits and allowances of pensioners in the state.

Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, said this on Tuesday at the National Pensioners’ Day Celebration held in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

He said the present administration was committed to alleviating the suffering of pensioners through prompt payment of the benefits and clearing of the arrears.

“Pensioners ought to be paid their gratuities within two months of retirement as obtainable in the advanced countries,” he said.

He said government would look into the demands of the pensioners to make life easier for them and urged them to vote massively for President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection in 2019.

He 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.

He gave assurance that the administration would work towards implementation of first- retired first-paid policy, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

The deputy governor advised the pensioners to form themselves into cooperative societies and access loans from a World Bank for maize and cassava planting.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ekiti State Branch, Mr Ayo Kumapayi alleged that former Gov. Ayo Fayose stopped the increment of the pension approved by the Fayemi administration in 2014.

Kumapayi appealed for the restoration of the increment, adding that the outstanding gratuities had increased from N1.6 billion to N20 billion in the last four years.