By Henry Oqua
The Edo State Government has accused the former Governor of the State, Comrade Adams Oshiomohle of manipulating gullible senior citizens for political gain.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr Christopher Nehikhare made this known on Sunday, January 8, 2023, at a press conference in his office in Benin, where he addressed critical national issues and their implications for Edo.
Nehikhare said that none of the pensioners who joined the protest on the eve of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential rally in the state are owed by the current administration.
“Obaseki came into office on November 12, 2016, and of all the pensioners you saw there, none of them retired after 2016, all the people that spoke retired under the Oshiomohle administration.
“Oshiomohle bluntly refused to pay their pensions but they allow themselves to be used in an attempt to embarrass this government,” he said.
On January 4, pensioners besieged Ring Road in Benin City to protest the non-payment of their gratuity.
Some of the protesters who spoke to the press confirmed that the government has religiously paid their pensions since the Obaseki administration came on board.
Their grievance lies in the non-payment of gratuities to civil and public servants who retired before the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) was enacted by the Governor Godwin Obaseki administration in Edo, in 2017.
The Commissioner was quick to correct the claim that no pensioner has been paid gratuity since 2012, adding that in the last two years, the government has spent over 1 billion Naira on gratuity payments and another war chest of over 15 billion Naira for pensions and gratuity has been earmarked in 2023.
“We have received validation from experts across the world on how we have managed to sort out our pensions and gratuities in Edo State in the face of very lean resources.
Highlighting the political element in the conversation around gratuities, Nehikhare said the government felt betrayed by the gullibility of the protesters, adding that in a bid to breathe life into the workforce the Obaseki has had to move workers to the CPS, and hiring younger people.
He said the leadership of the retirees have constantly been updated on progress in paying the gratuities. So far Edo has paid out 1billion Naira for the last two years
“We have been engaging with the leaders of these retirees, and they know the processes we are going through, and they know how we have been paying this. So we want people to know that they were not telling the truth when they said no gratuity has been paid since 2011.
Charging the media to do a proper investigation, Nehikhare said “Those who have received their gratuity from the government are still alive, you can ask them.
“For this year we budgeted 15.1 billion Naira to pay pensions and gratuities but they don’t want us to get to work on that. Their motive is clear to all Edo people,” he said.
