Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun, on Friday, presented N4 billion bond certificates to both state and local government retirees in the state.

Presenting the bond certificates, Mr Adeleke said that out of the figure, retirees at the state level would receive N1.59 billion, while retirees at the local government level would receive N2.41 billion.

According to him, his two predecessor in office for 12 years released bond certificates worth N11 billion, while his administration released the worth of N12.7 billion to the retirees from Dec. 2022 till date.

He also said that from 2022 till date, his administration had paid N1.8 billion as gratuities to civil servants, members of staff in tertiary institutions, government parastatals and public secondary schools at the state level.

“Within the same period, our government has paid local government and primary school retirees N2.52 billion as gratuities.

“While the total gratuities paid for state and local government retirees within the same period stood at N4.32 billion,” Adeleke said.

The governor said that his administration was committed to upholding workers’ welfare as the number one priority.

“We will continue to devote our time to paying off the pension and half salary debt, while also providing succour to the workforce,” he said.

In his remarks, the head of service, Ayanleye Aina, said that the release of the bond certificates was in line with the tenet of the five action plans of the present administration, of making the welfare of the workers and retirees the number one priority.

“Your Excellency, our records have shown that the bond certificates you had released in one and half years surpassed those done by your predecessors in the last 12 years,” Mr Aina said.

(NAN)