The Lagos State Government at the weekend disclosed that it had paid N9.3 billion to 2,466 pensioners in the state between May 2017 and March 2018, adding that issues affecting retirees in the state will continue to be prioritized.
The Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson-Oke, who gave these figures at the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the present administration’s three years in office, said with the prompt payments, there has been gradual off-setting of outstanding backlog of terminal entitlements of retirees in the state
He said: “The state government, through the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), paid the sum of N9.3 billion into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of 2,466 public retirees, within the last one year.
“From August 2015 to date, the sum of N35.92 billion has been paid into the RSA of 8,731 retirees, deceased and withdrawn staff. There has been continued significant reduction in outstanding backlog of terminal entitlements of retired public servants”, the commissioner added.
According to him, the state government had commenced and maintained the trend of paying terminal entitlements of retired employees monthly, since August 2015, adding that the ministry will continue to sensitise retirees on activities of pension fraudsters so that they will get their entitlements without hitches.
The commissioner said that the ministry would distribute welfare packages to no fewer than 8, 000 pensioners aged 70 and above this year just as he hinted that80 beneficiaries of deceased employees in the state were paid N220.7 million as death benefit within the period.
Expatiating further on the activities of his ministry, Benson-Oke disclosed that the state’s Public Service Staff Development Centre trained 3, 737 officers in the last one year as part of government’s efforts on human capacity building through learning and development initiatives, using technology-driven resources.
He commended the labour unions in the state public service for supporting government in creating a safe, conflict-free and productive workplace, adding that it is historic that in the last three years, the Governor Ambode-led administration has not witnessed any form of industrial relations crisis.
This is even as he restated the ministry’s commitment to intensify efforts towards motivating and training the civil servants for better service delivery and protection of interest of residents of the state.
