Ambode pays N4.5 billion to 1,200 retirees, promises free health care

The Lagos State Government has paid over N4.5 billion to 1,200 retired public servants as Governor Akinwunmi Ambode's administration promises better times for pensioners.

While announcing the development at the 19th batch retirement benefit bond certificate presentation at the Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) House, Alausa, the Director-General of Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC), Mrs. Folashade Onanuga, said the government would clear the pension backlog.

Onanuga said Ambode has plans in place to ensure that workers live comfortably after retiring from office.

"[Pensioners] will enjoy free health care delivery in Lagos State Hospitals as arrangements are on to provide them with Retirees identification cards,” she said, quoting the governor.

"[They] will be accorded the necessary respect by the pension fund administrators and annuity service providers as the money being paid to them is their rights and not privilege.”

It will be recalled that the immediate past governor of the state, Babatunde Fashola, had a run-in with pensioners in the state towards the end of his tenure.

In early May, the Lagos state chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Najeemdeen Ibrahim, urged Fashola, to pays the three-year arrears of 142 per cent pension increment approved by the Federal Government in 2000 before leaving office.

It did not happen.