Pensioners in Edo state commenced year 2023 with a protest, Wednesday, to demand for unpaid gratuities spanning 11 years.
Dozens of the retirees converged at the ever-busy king square with plarcards to convey their grievances- thereby hindering the free flow of traffic.
Moments later, the peaceful protest took a worrisome twist after one of the pensioners fainted; and needed urgent medical attention.
The unidentified pensioner was however rushed to a medical facility by some of his colleagues.
Spokesman for the pensioners, Mr. Saliu Osawe, decried the unending wait of retirees to get their gratuities.
Osawe alleged that more than 200 pensioners had died while waiting to be paid their gratuities by the state government.
According to him, “the last time Edo State government paid gratuities was in 2011 during ex-governor Adams Oshiomhole administration.
“Since governor Obaseki came to power in 2016, ha has not paid gratuity. What he pays is the monthly pension stipend. He has refused to pay the bulk which is the gratuity.
“The governor goes on telling lies… And the federal government has given him three tranches of fund”, he stated.
Meanwhile, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Projects, Crusoe Osagie, noted that the government has shown good faith by solving two out of the three major issues affecting pensioners in the State.
Crusoe said the governor inherited unpaid pension arrears running into over N4 billion in addition to harmonising pension payment and issue of outstanding gratuities.
He stated that “of these three major challenges that pensioners in Edo State faced, the Obaseki-led government took the bold step to successfully address two and is hard at work in solving the last of them, which is clearing outstanding gratuities”.
