About 9,130 retirees under the Independent Unbonded Contributory Pension Scheme in Osun State, have appealed to the state government to release, without further delay, their retirement benefits owed to pensioners who exited service between 2017 and 2025.

The group, comprising retirees from the state civil service, teaching service, tertiary institutions and local government administration, made the appeal on Thursday in Osogbo while speaking with journalists during its meeting.

Speaking on behalf of the affected retirees, the chairman, Moses Fayemi, said members had been subjected to untold hardship due to the continued withholding of their retirement bonds by the state government.

According to Fayemi, many retirees who left service between 2017 and 2025 are yet to receive any benefits, calling for urgent government intervention.

“A number of our members retired between 2017 and 2025, yet many of us have not received any payment to date. In total, about 9,130 retirees are currently affected by the non-payment of these bonds,” he said.

Fayemi, who described the delay as inexcusable, said the group had written several appeals to the government but was repeatedly told to wait because funds were unavailable.

He added, “More recently, we were informed that our bonds would only be paid after the release of local government allocations.

“Unfortunately, we have no clear information on when such allocations will be released.”

The IUCPS chairman urged the government to make earnest efforts to pay the entitlements, especially as the governorship election draws near, stressing that the group was not issuing an ultimatum.

“Some of our members who retired as far back as 2017 are now in their ninth year without receiving their rightful entitlements.

“Primary school retirees from 2017 to 2025 remain unpaid. Secondary school retirees were last paid up to June 2020, leaving those who retired from July 2020 till date unpaid.

“The same situation applies to retirees from the civil service, tertiary institutions and the local government system, where payments were only made up to 2022. This is the reality we face. There is an urgent need for government intervention,” Fayemi said.

Reacting, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the government placed high priority on the welfare of workers and retirees, attributing the delay in the release of retirement bonds to issues surrounding local government allocations.

“Everybody can attest that since its inception, this government has been striving to live up to expectations regarding workers’ and retirees’ welfare.

“However, since February last year, issues relating to local government administration have become a clog in the wheel of progress, affecting governance in the state,” Alimi said.

He explained that responsibilities ordinarily funded through local government allocations—such as salaries of local government staff, primary and junior secondary school teachers, as well as pensions of local government and primary school retirees—were currently being borne by the state government.

“As a result, funds meant to be released from local government allocations for retirement bonds have been stalled. We are in court and have taken several steps to ensure the issue is resolved. The local government crisis is what is actually delaying the release of these bonds,” he said.

Alimi appealed to the retirees to exercise patience, assuring them that the government was making efforts to resolve the impasse and settle outstanding entitlements as soon as possible.

PUNCH Online reports that on May 1, 2025, Governor Ademola Adeleke approved the release of N4bn for the settlement of retirement benefits for certain categories of retirees in the state.

Despite this, the number of retirees awaiting their benefits years after leaving service has continued to rise, largely due to inherited backlogs and inadequate funding to clear the arrears. (The PUNCH)

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