Lagos govt approves 33% pay increase for pensioners

The Lagos State government has endorsed a 33% increment for all the state pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme (Pay as You Go) with effect from 1st January 2020.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu also approved payment of a balance of 25 per cent allowance for officers on Grade Level 07 and above who retired from the state service between May 2000 and August 2004.

The state’s Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Ajibola Ponnle, made the declaration on Tuesday during a meeting with members of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners in Lagos.

According to her, the present administration is passionate about retirees’ welfare and will continually appreciate their service to the state, hence the reason for the increment, which is targeted at mitigating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state’s senior citizens.

She assured that both the increase and payment of the arrears would take effect from September 2020 in a move to meet up with the harmonisation exercise for the pensioners.

Mrs Ponnle stated that the state government had regularly paid a total sum of N1.893 billion to pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme despite a revenue deficit occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the contributory pension scheme, Lagos State government paid more than N21 billion as accrued pension rights to 5,354 retirees between May 2019 and August 2020, while over N978 million was credited into the retirement savings accounts of 405 retirees in June this year, the commissioner said.

She stressed that Lagos State government was committed to ensuring that pensioners’ rights were paid promptly while beneficiaries would continue to enjoy the dividends of Democracy in the state.