Government pays pensioners N2.3bn in 6 months, says official

The Ogun Bureau of Local Government Pensions, paid N2.3 billion as pensions from January to June, 2016, Mr Olugbenga Opaleye, the Director of Personnel Management at the Bureau, has said.

Opaleye made the statement on Friday in Abeokuta when members of the state Assembly Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs paid oversight visit to the bureau.

He said that the beneficiaries were retired staff of local government councils as well as teaching and non-teaching staff in primary schools.

He said that the bureau had not been able to pay gratuity to its pensioners due to paucity of funds.

Opaleye said that the bureau was saddled with the management of the former pay-as-you-go and the Contributory Pension Scheme for the affected pensioners.

He said that the total number of pensioners being managed by the agency was 8,573 as at June.

He said that the bureau needed the assistance of the government to computerize pensioners' database to enhance electronic payment of monthly pensions and other retirement benefits.

In his response, Mr Olusola Odofin-Sonuga, the committee chairman, while commending the bureau for its efforts so far, urged its management to ensure prompt and timely payment of pensioners’ entitlements.

He urged the bureau to collaborate with the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Local Government Service Commission and the House of Assembly to achieve its objectives.