HUNDREDS of members of the local government pensioners and retired primary school teachers in Ogun State have declared three days fasting and vowed to stage a protest against the state Governor, Dapo Abiodun, for his alleged refusal to pay their gratuities.
The pensioners on the platform of Local Government Pensioners Association said they would go to the governor’s office after the three days fasting that started on Thursday with their mats and turn the place to their homes during the protest.
The pensioners vowed that they would not leave the place until their gratuities were paid.
The state Chairman of LOGPAN, Sikiru Ayilara, said this on Thursday, while speaking with newsmen at a press briefing held at the association’s Secretariat in Abeokuta.
Ayilara, who spoke in the presence of the members, said they were tired of writing letters after they had written about 12 without one getting a response.
The pensioners accused Abiodun of “playing dangerously with the lives of the members” by refusing to pay their gratuities on time.
The association insisted that the quarterly payment of N500m by Abiodun, which by calculation would take 34 years to clear all the gratuities, was unacceptable.
Ayilara called for the review of the policy by voting N1bn monthly instead of payment of N500m quarterly.
He also lamented the payment of N5,000 as pension to the members, saying the amount could not feed the politician’s dog.
He said, “We are not going to curse, but every pronouncement, every covenant of God on anybody that is oppressing the poor, the needy, the widows, the aged and the orphans will be on anybody contributing to our oppression.”
On the efforts made to get Abiodun’s attention, Ayilara said, “We have written 12 letters now. The 10th one was given to him at the arcade on Independence Day; he did not turn his attention.
“We are not going to give him any notice again. He will see us, with our mats, sleeping clothes; we will go to his office, let him kill us there. After all, many of us are dying now very silently.”
On the ordeals of the members, Ayilara said, “Let me tell you, there is one senior colleague in the local government, after the payment of last month pension, he was released from the hospital.”
When contacted, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Communication, Remmy Hazzan, faulted the claim on the letters written without response.
Source: Punch
