The governorship candidate of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) in Oyo State, Bimbo Adekanmbi, has promised to sustain and improve the welfare of pensioners in the state if elected governor in 2027.
Adekanmbi gave the assurance during an interactive session with pensioners at the Pension House, Agbarigo, Ibadan, where he pledged to maintain prompt payment of pensions and gratuities and build on the improvements recorded under the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde.
According to a statement signed by Yinka Oladoyinbo, Director of Communication and Spokesperson of the Oyo State APM Governorship Campaign Council, pensioners would not be made to suffer under his administration, promising to sustain the existing arrangement that ensures retirees receive their monthly pension alerts by the 25th of every month.
According to him, the welfare of retired workers would remain a priority, adding that he would establish regular engagements with pensioners to obtain firsthand information about their concerns and needs.
“I have moved round the state on three occasions after my emergence as the candidate of our party and I have been able to note what our people want. I have interacted with various segments of the society and I have put down their requests and also my promises, which I called my charter with the people,” he said.
Adekanmbi acknowledged the improvements in pensioners’ welfare under Makinde, saying he would have to sustain and further improve on the existing arrangements.
“It is a matter of compulsion for me to ensure the well-being of our pensioners. Seyi Makinde has raised the bar and I have no choice than to continue with what is on ground and attempt to also further raise the bar,” he said.
He also promised not to make commitments he could not fulfil, assuring the retirees that their pension and gratuity entitlements would be paid promptly.
“I am standing before you today to make a pledge that under the government of Bimbo Adekanmbi, pensioners will not suffer; all your dues shall be promptly paid,” he said.
The APM candidate explained that regular payment of salaries and pensions would also support economic activities across the state by ensuring that workers and retirees had money to spend.
Earlier, the Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Oyo State Council, Comrade Olusegun Abatan, said pensioners had experienced difficult conditions for 16 years before Makinde assumed office.
Abatan said pensions were not paid regularly during the period, while statutory provisions for pension increases whenever workers’ salaries were reviewed were allegedly disregarded.
He recalled that some pensioners received as little as N350 or N1,000 monthly before the present administration, adding that Makinde’s government raised the minimum pension in the state to N25,000 with effect from January 2025.
The NUP secretary said the improvements recorded in the last seven and a half years had made pensioners keen to know what Adekanmbi’s administration would offer if he won the 2027 governorship election.
He said pensioners were determined not to return to the conditions they experienced under previous administrations, describing their position with the expression, “We don’t want to go back to Egypt.”
By this, Abatan explained, pensioners meant they did not want a return to irregular pension payments, unpaid gratuities, percentage-based pension payments and the humiliation of being labelled “dead but alive”.
He added that pensioners in the state, whose population he put at about 50,000, alongside their dependants, constituted a significant voting bloc capable of influencing electoral outcomes.
“Oyo State Pensioners are ready to vote for any gubernatorial candidate who factors our interest into his agenda,” he said.
