Why we could not celebrate Independence – Ekiti pensioners

The Ekiti State pensioners have appealed to the Governor-elect, Dr
Kayode Fayemi to place high premium on payment of pension when
assuming office, saying they are tired of how their members were 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 on Wednesday after a prayer session organized to seek the face
of God against high incidences of deaths among 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 t regretted that none of its members has received its
monthly pension since January 2018.

The statement 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 prayer 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 is later 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 meted this punishment on us. We are
tired of one –day, one-death among our members", the communiqué
stated.