The Ondo state administration claimed over the weekend that it pays its retired civil personnel N2.4 billion in gratuities every year without fail.
Pastor Kayode Ogundele, the Head of Service (HoS), made this statement while participating on a radio program in Akure, the state’s capital.
The governor Rotimi Akeredolu-led administration, according to Ogundele, was current with the payment of pensions as well.
“The government has approved the increase in the pension allowances of the retirees in the state in line with the consequential adjustment arising from the implementation of the national minimum wage in 2019 in the country.
Ogundele also said that with the clearing of the backlogs of seven months’ salaries owed by the immediate past administration, the state government has been prioritizing the welfare of workers by promptly paying their salaries.
“Mr. Governor assured the workers and labour leaders that arrears of salaries owed by the previous administration will be fully paid. By December 2022, we had already started planning for January.
” As of February, before the election, the Ondo State Government had paid February salaries. We have no outstanding debt.
“As he (Akeredolu) was clearing the seven months’ arrears he inherited, he was also paying the normal salary.
“There was no issue with a salary delay or any outstanding salary within that period, even though he was clearing the arrears. All the salaries due to this administration have been paid.
“Also, pensioners in the state have been commending Mr. Governor. Just last week, Mr. Governor approved the increase in their arrears based on the 2019 minimum wage.
” The implication of this for the state is that every month we will be incurring an additional N100 million to pay the incremental arrears.
“Just last year, we had issues with Owena Press retirees. Most of them had not been paid their gratuities for years. Last year, Mr. Governor got the file, and he approved it straight away. Now, all the retirees have all gotten their gratuities.
“Based on the resources available to the government, we have been putting aside a certain amount to clear the backlog of gratuities in other sectors.
“As we are paying their pensions every month, we also take care of their gratuities every month. There are so many of them that have been there since 2011.
“You can imagine the number of people that have retired from 2011 to date, but since this administration came on board, it has been providing for that.
“Every month we make provisions for them. From what we do, by annual calculation, the state government is paying nothing less than N2.4 billion apart from gratuities.”
Ogundele, who lauded the governor for the innovative strategies deployed in boosting the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state, maintained that Akeredolu has vowed that the delayed payment of salaries of workers will not repeat itself under his watch.
“The government has been going out of its way to ensure that it prioritizes the welfare of workers. What we have witnessed in recent times is that outside of what we get from Abuja, the Ondo State Government has actually put a lot of structure in place to ensure that our IGR also receives a boost, and it has been seriously boosted.
“There is no doubt about the fact that it is one of the contributions of public servants. They have also seen that if their welfare is being taken care of by the government, they must ensure that they also show it through their productivity. And this is what we have been seeing. Every time we hear stories of improvement in our IGR.
“So we have been able to balance this with what we are getting from Abuja because Mr. Governor has actually made up his mind that nothing will make him again have a situation where workers will be complaining of salaries not being paid. He had vowed that would not happen again.
” That is why the issue of their emoluments has been prioritized, and that is why we are having the kind of situation we have now, a very peaceful relationship between government and workers.
“When you look at the facts and figures, when you compare Ondo State and other states in the south-west, we are far ahead.
“In 2019, we promoted over 7,000 workers with full financial benefits. 4,185 workers were promoted in 2020. In 2021, the total number of workers promoted was 3,451. In 2022, we 3,950. As a whole in 2023 weeks promoted over 8,415 workers.
Ogundele noted that “In the teaching service, just about two years ago, we recruited over 1,000 teachers to fill some gaps in the primary schools. The teaching service in the secondary schools is making efforts to ensure gaps are also filled.