By Yabagi Mohammed.
The Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf has assured retirees in the State Civil Service that Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo is working round the clock to better their welfare.
He stated this while receiving some retired workers who paid him a working visit in Lokoja.
The Speaker noted that since assumption of office, the Governor has always made it a priority to provide effective governance for all, stressing that many of the policies of the administration on pension and matters connected to it have been to improve the condition of the state retired civil servants.
He said both the Governor and himself being pensioners, are doing all that they can to ensure they provide the enabling environment that would better the lives of those who have put in their best in servicing the engine room of governance and public administration in Kogi Kogi State.
Earlier in his address, the spokesperson of the group, Dr. S.A Rowland had expressed appreciation to the Governor for regular payment of pensions to pensioners together with the remarkable infrastructural and human capital development of the Kogi State Government.
He then acknowledged the effort of the state government in the payment of gratuity to pensioners, which he described as commendable.
The spokesperson then requested the government to make more efforts in alleviating their plight as their needs continue to widen just as challenges pile up.
He suggested what he described as game – changing ways to address other conundrum in the sector through the approach of relevant financial bodies to source for loans to offset the outstanding gratuities for pensioners.
He suggested that the loan interest due from each gratuity should be taken from the sum payable to each beneficiary, stressing the need for urgent action addressing the matter.
Such step, he noted, will not only boost the welfare of the pensioners, their families and communities, but also help to enhance the welfarist national image of the State as it joins the league of Nigerian states such as Borno, Zamfara and Kano, in the North; and Oyo, Osun, Imo, Abia, Delta and Ondo in the South that have cleared outstanding gratuities of Pensioners.
Also present during the visit was the member of the State House of Assembly for Ankpa II State Constituency, Hon Abbas Ibrahim.
