New Minimum Wage: We’ll do everything possible to pay – Oyebanji

Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, on Tuesday, told civil servants that he would try his best not to disappoint them once the new minimum wage becomes law.

This was just as the governor also distributed cheques worth N1 billion to 450 retired workers as gratuities.

Speaking at the official distribution of cheques to state pensioners in Ado Ekiti, Mr Oyebanji said that since coming on board, he has made the monthly pension payment among the first-line charges because of the priority he accorded to older adults.

“Let me respond to some issues raised by earlier speakers before reading my speech. On the issue of the new minimum wage, some people have been going to social media to mount pressure on their governor to pay; I do not need any pressure to do what is right. Once it becomes a law, I promise not to let you down. We will try our best,” he said.

Mr Oyebanji assured the pensioners that, as elders, their welfare remained a priority to his administration.

He said this was why their monthly pension has been on the first line charge. “I am proud to say we have paid in total, the sum of N12, 569, 562, 242:00 as pensions since we assumed office.

“Similarly, this administration has paid a cumulative sum of Two Billion, Three Hundred Million Naira (N2.3B) as gratuity to our retired senior citizens. That is, apart from the gratuity already paid to local government retirees.

“Today and in this batch, we are paying out a total sum of One Billion Naira (N1, 000, 000, 000), while continuing with the monthly gratuity payment of Twenty Million Naira (N20,000,000.00) to both state and Local Government pensioners,” he said.

Mr Oyebanji reassured those on the waiting list to keep hope alive, as the government was doing everything possible to see that more people were paid soon.

“Our ultimate objective is to completely liquidate all gratuity arrears in a short distant time. In addition to this, we have ensured that retirees are not left behind in the payment of wage awards to Ekiti government workers.

“Similarly, I am glad to mention that we have cleared all arrears of pension owed state pensioners, totalling N1,140,943,594.38 earlier in the year, while about N150,000,000.00 outstanding deductions have been paid.

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“We are not unmindful of the many challenges you endure as a result of the delay in the payment of your gratuity. Let me assure you that we are working to ensure this becomes a thing of the past,” he said.

Mr Oyebanji, however, appealed to public servants still in service to subscribe to the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as introduced, which, according to him, would help in ending the challenges associated with the ‘Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.’

In his remarks, the chairperson of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Joel Akinola, urged the governor to pay the three months arrears of pension owed local government workers.

Mr Akinola noted that some former governors in the state failed to pay gratuities, leading to the backlog of unpaid benefits to retirees, praising Mr Oyebanji for taking retired workers’ welfare seriously.