The Lagos state government has approved the release of N722 million as payment to another batch of 153 retirees for October 2017.
This information was made known on Tuesday at the 44th batch of the Retirement Benefit Bond Certificate Presentation Ceremony held at Ikeja.
The Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson-Oke, who represented Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, said the present administration has fully demonstrated its commitment to the welfare of the active workforce and pensioners in respect of salaries and pensions payment.
He said in 26 months, from August 2015 to October 2017, the state government, through LASPEC has paid accrued pension rights in the sum of N31,822,560 into the Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) of 7,677 retirees, aside from the mandatory contributions which the government remits monthly into the Retirement Savings Account of all state employees.
The Director-General, LASPEC, Mrs. Folashade Onanuga in her remarks, said that the State Government has continued to shore up the living standards and socio-economic well-being of the ordinary citizens despite the fact that it has over 200 billion pension liabilities.
Onanuga advised the Pensioners to be wary of Pension fraudsters, who present themselves in different forms, while also admonishing them to take good care of their health and desist from spending their benefits on frivolities.
She also counseled them on the importance of collecting their statement of accounts from their Pension Fund Administrators regularly to keep a record of transactions on their accounts.
Onanuga also sensitized them on the existence of Oracle HR application field for Additional Voluntary Contributions, which she explained is useful for those who are still in active service.
“The funds are invested and can be accessed immediately by a retiree on retirement. It can also be used to boost pension received in retirement,” she said.
