…Says 350 Hectares Acquired For Workers’ Housing Scheme
Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said on Thursday that his administration had so far expended N179.7 billion in settling pensions and gratuities for state and local government retirees since its inception in 2019.
Abiodun, who disclosed this at the 2025 Workers’ Day Celebration in Abeokuta, said the backlog of pensions from 2012 to 2017 had been cleared, just as the backlog of National Housing Scheme remittances had been paid to ensure easy access to mortgage loans.
According to the governor, about 12,500 workers have benefited from car and motorcycle loans, which his administration has increased to the tune of N1.6 billion.
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He explained: “As a worker-friendly administration, we have made deliberate efforts to deepen our partnership with labor to improve working conditions and enhance the welfare of our workers across the state.
“This administration, since its inception in 2019, has cleared the pension backlog, and pensions are now paid alongside salaries. We have paid for the period from 2012 to 2017.
“A total of N179.7 billion has been disbursed as pensions and gratuities to both state and local government pensioners. The backlog of National Housing Scheme remittances has been cleared, easing access to mortgage loans.
“We have increased car and motorcycle loans to the tune of N1.6 billion, disbursed to about 12,500 beneficiaries”, the governor added.
He said N8 billion was used to provide palliatives to state workers and pensioners between July 2023 and March 2024 to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on fuel.
Abiodun also disclosed that 350 hectares of land at Ijemo/Onisela has been acquired and launched under a Sites and Services Scheme to support the aspirations of workers in the state to become property owners through mortgages.
To be named, ‘Prince Dapo Abiodun Bureaucrats Estate’, the governor said that the Sites and Services Scheme was a government initiative that provides essential infrastructure like roads, water, and electricity to an area, allowing individuals or businesses to develop properties at a lower cost.
Abiodun commended President Bola Tinubu for his efforts in repositioning the nation’s economy as well as galvanizing the workers for optimal productivity, acknowledging that with the various reforms of the federal government, inflation and prices of goods are gradually going down while the economy growing.
The governor noted that the cooperation between the state government and the workers had positioned the state as a beacon of innovation, enterprise, and human capital development, placing the state on the path of sustainable development.
He enthused: “With your support and cooperation, our administration has fully deployed available resources, culminating in a conducive business environment that has attracted and encouraged both local and foreign investors to strengthen our economy.”
Abiodun urged the state workforce to continue discharging their duties diligently by playing their part in helping the government revive the challenged economy as well as supporting the provision of infrastructure in all the urban and rural areas of the state.
He explained that his administration was not unaware of the hard realities in the country based on the current economic challenges, promising that the government is working towards addressing them.
While describing the workers as the driving force for the socio-economic development of the state, he commended the workforce and their leadership for maintaining industrial harmony, which has contributed to the development witnessed in the state.
In his opening remarks, the Federal Controller of Labour, Ogun State, Mr. Andy Egbor, said that workers had contributed to the nation’s progress and commended the government and employers who were championing better working conditions for workers.
According to him, Ogun State government’s approach to workers’ welfare is a good example for others to follow, calling for collaboration with the federal government for improved welfare for the workers.
In his remarks, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr. Hameed Benco, pointed out that the current economic challenges had not only threatened welfare but also job security and charged governments to build low-cost housing, establish a market pricing regulatory board to regulate the prices of goods, and provide interest-free loans to workers as part of efforts to lessen the hardship.
Also, the Chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Akeem Lasisi, described the celebration as a struggle against oppression as workers were going through economic hardship, calling on the government to address insecurity caused by the activities of Boko Haram, banditry, kidnappers, and herdsmen.
The labour leader commended the state government for its various intervention programmes, which have brought some reliefs to workers in the state.
Photo Caption
L-R: State Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Hameed Benco; Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide; Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun; his Deputy, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele; Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Tokunbo Talabi and the Head of Service, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya, during the 2025 Workers’ Day Celebration, held on Thursday at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta
