By Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
Pensioners in Ekiti State have appealed to the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to place priority on the payment of pensions when he assumes office, saying they are tired of their members being killed by treatable diseases due to unpaid pension arrears.
The body accused Governor Ayodele Fayose’s government of neglect, which they said had impoverished their members and made them vulnerable to all forms of diseases.
The body, acting under the aegis of Concerned Local Government Pensioners Association of Nigeria (CLGPAN), Ekiti chapter, made the appeal Wednesday after a prayer session organised to seek the face of God against high incidences of deaths among their members.
A communiqué issued at the end of the session and signed by CLGPAN’s Coordinator/Chairman, Alhaji Quadri Oguntuase, and Secretary, Mr. Abiodun Agboola, regretted that none of its member has received its monthly pension since January 2018.
The communiqué said it sounded so pathetic that while Nigerians were celebrating Independence Day on October 1, pensioners in Ekiti were burying their members and crying over avoidable issues.
“At that payer session, we didn’t just pray for God’s intervention, we also viewed the neglect of our members in the scheme of things as callous, and greatest height of insensitivity.
“We want to alert the public that we have not been paid once this year. We have no reason to shout happy new year since 2018, because we have not been paid.
“Everybody is celebrating Independence Day, but we are mourning over our colleagues who have died in the course excruciating pains of hunger and treatable diseases.
“Some of us live on the children who have no specific jobs after their graduation and service year. We are tired of this situation and the next government must change the trend.
“On this note, we appeal to the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to make the welfare of our members its priority.
“He should as a matter of importance arrest the deaths among our members. How can someone work for 35 years and later be abandoned to suffer in the hands of government?
“What made our situation more pathetic was that it was the same government we served that has been meting this punishment on us. We are tired of one day, one death among our members,” the communiqué stated
