Members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State are “waiting anxiously” for the announcement of executive council members and local government caretaker committee members by Governor Abiola Ajimobi.
The names, it was gathered, will be announced “any moment from now”.
The announcement will follow payment of salary arrears, which is expected to be completed this week.
The government began payment of the four-month salary arrears last Wednesday.
May salary was paid on Wednesday; June on Thursday.
It is expected that the balance will be cleared this week in line with the agreement reached with labour leaders.
A source close to the governor said yesterday that Ajimobi had compiled the list of potential appointees with the party’s inputs.
But the governor has the final say on the portfolios.
The source explained that the appointees were drawn from the 33 local governments but that both the governor and the party agreed to stay action because of the outstanding salaries.
“Both the party and the governor thought that it would be better to delay the announcement till after salary arrears have been cleared to identify with the plight of the workers.
“But now that workers will be fully paid, the announcement will be made soon.”
The source added that the delay has helped Ajimobi save some funds that would have ordinarily gone into salaries and allowances for the appointees.
Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi reiterates his commitment to good governance and urges the people to support his plan to reposition the state for excellence.
Of all the humbling moments I have had in life, the most outstanding one was earlier this year upon being re-elected Governor by the good people of Oyo State.
It was all the validation I needed, as the people of Oyo are known for their political watchfulness. If I wasn’t doing something right – whether it was or wasn’t so in the eyes of political rabble-rousers – I would not be entrusted, for the second time, with the task of leading our state to further glory.
I have always been one to admit that Oyo State has a long way to go. It was one of the reasons I opted to serve the state in the first place. However, four years alone would’ve been an unrealistic timeline for the actualisation of all the policies and roadmaps we created and which we have been implementing.
Governing a state and turning it around has not and will never be a magic show. It takes patience, research, hard work, insight, and surrounding oneself with the right people. Most of all, it takes an element out of the control of man – time. During the first four years of serving the people of Oyo, my administration decided to pursue the tripod approach of restoration, transformation and repositioning of all sectors of the economy.
With great intensity, we focused on the education sector, because we know that the foundation that children get determines if they will be productive members of the society in decades to come. It is only quality education that can bring about the kind of manpower that will eventually contribute to the progress that we started in 2011 in Oyo State.
I have always taken to heart the words of the great Awolowo, when he said: “In order to attain to the goals of economic freedom and prosperity, Nigeria must do certain things as a matter of urgency and priority. It must provide free education.” That is why education at basic and secondary school levels was pronounced free; we wanted to encourage more people to educate themselves and their children. It is also why we reduced fees in tertiary institutions and established more of such institutions to cater for the increasing number of secondary school leavers who had, hitherto, been spending years waiting to fill the meagre admission slots available. And when they graduate from these institutions, our youth are being equipped with soft loans and entrepreneurial skills through our youth empowerment scheme (YES-O).
Truth be told, we had our test run by implementing these facets whilst using the old governing structures that were already in place. And despite our tentative steps towards curing the rot that plague our educational system, the saying: “you can’t put old wine in new skin”, rings true.
While some complain that the public school classes are overpopulated and the teachers are few, others remember that government has a limit to its resources, regardless of its good intentions and policies. I thank the Parents Teachers Associaions (PTAs) in Oyo for the constant support that is being extended to our public schools.
Only last week, we broke ground for the construction of two hundred new classrooms, as part of our efforts to improve the conditions under which our children learn. These new classrooms are being built in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
It is easy to forget that governance, especially a democratic one, is not the sole responsibility of the government in power, but also the people it governs. ‘Ajumose’ should be the order of the day. We are already doing a lot; we intend to do a lot more. I ask that more Oyo residents recognise this and extend their hands of collaboration.
As policies are being implemented by the government, adjustments must constantly be made by the workforce and general citizenry and belts tightened. We have tried hard to plug the areas where there was excess spending of government funds by reducing the number of ministries, because it is the Oyo people’s money and it is in their best interest that we make necessary cuts and be fiscally responsible.
Nevertheless, we are mindful of the need to put in place an environment that ensures our policies do not hurt the people we seek to protect – the people of Oyo. We are mindful of the contribution of Civil Servants to the State over the decades and their continued efforts, and so we are working to make their lives better.
Civil servants in Oyo State have started collecting their outstanding four-month salary arrears.
A socio-political group, the Ajumose Coalition Movement (ACM), praised Governor Abiola Ajimobi for paying the outstanding salaries with the bail-out loan.
The group, in a statement by its Chairman Wasiu Olatunbosun in Ibadan yesterday, said Ajimobi’s resolve was a mark of his concern for workers’ welfare.
Ajimobi had, on Monday, assured that the loan would not be diverted.
“Notwithstanding the inability of the Ajimobi administration to continue with its tradition of prompt payment of salaries and allowance, the regret and concern which the governor demonstrated while the problem lingered was rare and commendable.
“Ajimobi stood firmly by the workers and ensured that the situation did not get out of hand as was almost the case in some other states. The governor brought his virtue of prudence as well as administrative and managerial acumen to bear.”
Undoubtedly, Jeremy Bentham’s (1748 – 1832) utilitarian theory is peradventure the most appropriate for a dispassionate appraisal of new education policy in Oyo State. The British immortal philosopher postulated that measuring public policy is best anchored on the “greatest happiness principle”. That is in his “utilitarianism”, public policy should be targeted at the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people in any human collectivity.
By happiness, he understood a predominance of ‘pleasure’ over ‘pain’. In essence, each policy has its own pro and cons. The beauty of any policy is that larger members of the society targeted by the policy should be satisfied by it. A public policy no matter how robust may not be wholly acceptable to all but large chunk should have heave a sign of relieve with public policy aimed at achieving public good.
It is within that context that this piece explicates Oyo State’s policy thrust on education. There are eight major rubrics in the policy as enunciated by the state government. Out of the eight, two are very contentious by the irreverent critics of Ajimobi administration cum the opposition elements in the state. They are the introduction of a thousand naira development levy in public secondary schools and outright stoppage of payment of WAEC registration fees. These two elements appear like a policy shock to the down-trodden more so in a state which is reputed to be the intellectual capital of Nigeria.
The fundamental question is why the need to re-jig education sector? It is an open secret so to say, that the sector is nothing to write home about. It takes a courageous and patriotic governor to attempt a general overhaul. This is what the Senator Ajimobi-led administration seeks to do. The empirical analysis below suffices to explain why the new policy is imperative.
It is instructive to note that between 2007 till date, the state government has expended a total sum of N3.2 billion naira on public examinations. With that, the highest pass rate ever was in 2011 with 20.55%. In 2007, 52,551 registered for WASCE with entry fee of N3,250.00 per candidate. Government paid a total sum of N170,790,150.00. Only 3,706 could manage to get five credits and above. Percentage pass was 7.05%! Government lost N158,745,650.00. In 2008, 55,878 candidates registered with entry fee of N3,500.00. Just 5,608 could get five credits and above with 10.04% pass rate. Government forfeited N175,945,000 on the failures. In 2009, the bad trend continued. Out of 52,484 that registered, the pass rate was 14.11%. In 2010, 52,448 candidates registered and only 7,357 could manage to pass, that is, 14.03% pass rate. By 2011 when this administration came on board, 60,000 candidates registered, 12,327 passed with five credits and above which translated to 20.55% pass rate which was to be the highest ever!
With population explosion and desire for education, more candidates registered in 2012, with as many as 67,786, the highest figure since 2007 which is under our purview, but 9,973 only too could pass WASCE at 14.71% pass rate. In 2013, 55,432 registered with 10,285 securing five credits and above, i.e. 18.55% pass rate. The story was not really different in 2014 and 2015 with 54,862 and 59,945 respectively registered with WAEC.
Nevertheless, if between 2007 till date, Oyo State WASCE candidates have not recorded 25% pass rate talk less of 50%, automatically, the sector requires general overhaul. To do this, the state government took a holistic view of the situation. This is done by targeting students/pupils, parents, teachers and infrastructure. Long before the 2015 elections, a total of 5,300 teaching and non-teaching staff were recruited to redress the anomaly. But the sector requires well-thought out policy beyond mere recruitment of teachers.
In its quest to reposition and further enhance quality education through concerted efforts of all stakeholders in Oyo State, the administration of Governor Ajimobi in his second term has taken some bold measures. Few of them include enforcement of 80% attendance for all students to ensure good performance in external and internal examinations. Students who fail to make 80% attendance may not be eligible for promotion examinations. Still targeting students and pupils, automatic promotions in all public secondary schools have been cancelled forthwith. Promotion is, henceforth, to be based on merit. This is to ensuring that quality products are graduated from public schools. Not only that, extra-mural classes will be re-invigorated for JSS 3 and SS3 students in all public secondary schools to add quality time to the teaching period.
Nevertheless, the state government, having properly carried along all the stakeholders in education sector most especially Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPS) and Association of Heads of Primary Schools among others decided to involve the parents effectively in the care of their children and wards. Hence, a sum of N3,000.00 education levy was agreed upon by all which could be paid per term on a thousand naira instalment basis, to compliment government efforts vis-à-vis provision of teaching aids and infrastructural facilities. Parents and guardians too are to equally bear the burden of payment of WAEC registration fees. No doubt, with the involvement of parents, they should be more passionate about what the future of their siblings is in their educational pursuit.
Back to the students, government also makes it mandatory that they pass mock examinations to be conducted on final year students to ensure that only serious and quality students are presented for final external examinations. The state government also directed that the use of GSM phones be banned during school hours. Much as GSM has value for learning, the abuse is prevalent among the students and pupils.
Perhaps the hallmark of the policy thrust on education is the desire to by the government to partner effectively with the interested stakeholders who may desire either to take over completely the running of their schools, that is, old boys and girls or missionary founded schools including community schools where the community-owner is keenly interested. It is high time for the government to promote the participation of more investors at the secondary school level so that better products get to the tertiary level.
In the final analysis, government cannot afford to be complacent in the education sector. The rot over the years is now telling with debilitating concomitant effect on the sector. It is pathetic that the rate of failure is ‘criminally’ high. The negative effect is that more products of private schools get admitted into tertiary institutions. This is very dangerous for the society. It may lead to social stratification whereby the children of the poor may not be able to compete with the affluence in a society that needs to pursue egalitarianism on virtually all facets of the society. At the end of the day, if implemented with the needed zeal, the policy will definitely lead to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people.
Dr. Ojo is the immediate past Special Adviser to Oyo State Government on Political Matters.
Unless the Oyo State Government intervenes in the lingering chieftaincy tussle rocking the Ago-Are community in the Atisbo Local Government Area with a view to finding lasting solution, the agrarian and peaceful community in Oke-Ogun area may soon be consumed by violence.
Tension has already enveloped the town, as youths and other interest groups, including the royal families are threatening fire and brimstones should the king- makers go ahead in their strange selection of a successor to the vacant throne, which they described as “unacceptable and a negation of age long tradition in the selection process’’.
The former community head, Aare of Ago-Are, the late Oba Jubril Oyesiji Oladoke, joined his ancestors in May this year after about 39 years of peaceful reign.
Southwest Report reliably gathered that barely two months after the death of the late ruler, a family meeting of Edu Ruling House which is to produce the next king, was convened where 15 candidates emerged to contest for the vacant stool.
Names of interested candidates were later presented to the community kingmakers for thorough screening through Ifa Oracle divination and in line with the age long customs and traditions.
It was learnt that rather than allowing age long traditional status quo in the process of selecting a new monarch for the community to remain, the kingmakers allegedly opted for orthodox religious method.
The community has eight kingmakers through declaration made under section 4(2) of the Chieftaincy Law of 1957. Two of the kingmakers had died, thus remaining six.
The six kingmakers, four Christians and two Muslims were alleged to have jettisoned traditional selection method, secretly picked two among the contesting candidates and voted along religious affiliations.
At the end of the secret election, a Christian candidate was said to have emerged victorious.
Competent source hinted that the decision of the lawmakers could not be communicated to the people for fear of unpleasant reactions.
The strange approach to selection of new monarch by the kingmakers elicited anger and uproar from indigenes, including the remaining 14 candidates who contested for the throne.
The royal candidates led by Prince Taoheed Oyekola Olakanla, told journalists at a briefing that “it is unfortunate that the kingmakers allowed self-centredness and greed to prevail over Ago-Are traditions and customs. Since July 7, this year that the kingmakers conducted their strange, kangaroo, alien and unlawful election to select another Oba, why has it been difficult for them to make the pronouncement? “All the contesting candidates who are also princes vehemently rejected the selection process. We have also forwarded our grievances to the appropriate authorities, notably the state government and the Alaafin of Oyo, who is the consenting authority and permanent Chairman, Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.”
In a related development, other five princes from the same ruling house kicked against what they referred to as “unlawful exclusion of their vested rights’’.
While denying any knowledge of the steps taken by both the ruling house and the kingmakers to select a new monarch, they noted that such steps were not made public as required by law.
Spokesman for the aggrieved princes, Semiu Bolaji Opeloyeru said: “We find it incomprehensible and unacceptable the activities of both the ruling house and the kingmakers.”
They added that their rights to seek appointment into the revered stool of Aare of Ago-Are has been jeopardised by the duo who have refused to adhere to all relevant laws regulating their conduct in this regards.
The princes, therefore, demanded outright cancellation of the nominations and election of any candidate, to ensure due process of law and to provide avenue for them to realise their aim of contesting for the vacant stool as provided under the law.
The ruling house, apparently feeling the heat ordered the cancellation of the initial selection and directed the kingmakers to follow laid down rules and regulations in order to ensure strict compliance with the age long traditions as well as to ensure the participation of all interested candidates.
The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, was said to have intervened and allegedly warned the kingmakers against neglect of their communal heritage in the name of orthodox religion, especially on the selection of successor to the vacant stool.
He said any attempt to circumvent the age long traditions and denounce the legacies of their forefathers to the dustbin of history, rather than preserving and recognising them always leads to crises and disharmony.
Meanwhile, youths, members of the royal family and other interest groups in the community have raised the alarm over strange movements by a group known as Oke-Ogun Professionals to create disharmony and cause violence, through distortion of historical facts about the community’s chieftaincy affairs.
Prince Oyewole
A press release jointly signed by Princes Salam Kazeem Oyewole and Olalekan Olaniyonu of the Edu Ruling House in Ago-Are community and made available to Southwest Report said the faceless Oke-Ogun Professionals is not speaking the minds of the royal family in particular and the Ago-Are community in general, let alone competent to act as the community’s mouthpiece.
It further stated that the community has a well-organised vibrant Native Assembly, the Ifelodun Ago-Are Parapo that will not delegate its duty to others.
It added, however, that it is not surprising to the Royal Family to see such a group parading itself as mouthpiece of the ruling house at this critical period when it has
called for cancellation of the selection of Prince Abodurin Kofoworola, which was carried out through dishonesty and abuse of power, which the secretary-general of the unknown and faceless group regards as due process.
“Indeed, more and other actions by selfish interest groups are expected by the Royal Family which is fully aware of the desperation of sponsored mischievous elements in the society striving to determine weak and unsuitable leadership and a bleak future for Ago-Are by misleading and cajoling the general public and authorities to accept the culture of immorality and impunity demonstrated by the six kingmakers who betrayed the throne and their privileged position by jettisoning age long tradition which stipulated the processes for appointing the Aare of Ago-Are land,” the release said.
Prince Olaniyonu
Continuing, the release said: “Ago-Are is not a club house or an association where members conduct simple majority vote to determine their leaders. It is also not a political party whose leadership must come through party politics. Let the defenders of the wrongfully selected candidate and the six kingmakers tell the world anyone out of the past 13 paramount rulers in Ago-Are history that was so enthroned; from Ajibesin Adensile down to the immediate past Oba.
“The media campaign to pressurise our highly respected monarch Iku Baba Yeye the Alaafin of Oyo and Oyo State Government to approve the fraudulent selection process of the candidate in question and to suppress the truth started weeks ago with posts on Facebook and publications in some newspapers. The blatant lies went further that all the candidates signed a document accepting the wrongful selection of Prince Kofoworola. We have already challenged the entire six kingmakers to show proof of that claim.
“For avoidance of doubt, the Ago-Are customs and traditions which have been duly supported by the Chieftaincy Declarations never put the selection of a candidate for the throne of the Aare of Ago-Are land at the whims and caprices of the kingmakers.
“Checks and balances are incorporated in the selection process, starting with family meetings of the Edu Royal Family for the purpose of nominating any number of candidates among the male descendants.”
It, therefore, advised the Oke-Ogun Professionals to go for enlightenment on the traditional process of appointing the Aare of Ago-Are land and indeed recognised obas in Yoruba land.
Members of the organised labour movement in Oyo State, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have opposed any move by Governor Abiola Ajimobi to cut workers’ salary.
They vowed to use available means to resist this.
Governor Ajimobi yesterday told the people in a programme on Splash FM that the labour leaders agreed with the government that workers’ salary should be cut, following the state’s dwindling resources, at a meeting last Monday.
NLC Chairman Mr. Waheed Olojede described the claim as false.
Olojede, who expressed surprise at the claim, said there was never any such meeting with the governor where salary cut was discussed.
Warning the government to desist from any step that would cause disaffection between it and the workers, the NLC chairman wondered how the labour would enter into an agreement with the governor on salary cut at a time the NLC was agitating for salary review.
His words: “Today, the Oyo State governor featured in a radio programme and informed the public that he held a meeting with labour leaders and that we agreed on salary cut because of the present economic situation and the state’s dwindling resources.
“The message got to us as a very big surprise because at no time did labour hold a meeting to negotiate with the government on workers’ salary cut.
“It is true we held a meeting with the government last Monday, but it was convened to discuss the bailout loan, which the Federal Government has released to Oyo State.”
The NLC boss said the agenda of the meeting, which was attended by the governor, the head of service and other officials, was based on the Federal Government bailout to states and how soon the arrears of workers’ salary would be paid.
He said: “We went to the government to know how much was it and how it will be spent to clear the arrears of salary. At that meeting, the government told labour that soon, they would access the funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and as soon as the fund came, they were prepared to spend the money for the purpose for which it was meant. That is the clearance of allowances, salary and pension arrears.
“We also agreed at that meeting that since the federal allocation committee held a meeting in Abuja and released allocation to the states, payment of April salary of officers on GL 13 and above should begin immediately, while we await the bailout fund to clear May, June, July and August salary. That was the position at that meeting.
“It was a big surprise today (yesterday) when the governor said he had discussed with us and we agreed that he should cut workers’ salary. We say no to this and that there is no agreement between us and the governor that workers’ salary should be cut. This is also to inform employers of labour that the last NEC meeting of labour held on August 6 resolved that the law that guides minimum wage allows it to be reviewed after five years of implementation.
“The minimum wage was approved in 2011. The national headquarters of the NLC is preparing to call for a review of the wage. So if the NLC is agitating for an increase of workers’ salary, why should any government talk of salary cut? To us as labour in the state, this proposal is not acceptable. It is anti-labour, anti-social and unacceptable.”
The Oyo State governorship election petition tribunal in Ibadan, the state capital, yesterday adopted written addresses of parties.
Senator Rashidi Ladoja of Accord challenged the victory of Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The petitioner joined APC, Resident Electoral Commissioner Rufus Akeju and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as co-respondents.
Richard Ogunwole represented the first and second petitioners, Wole Olanipekun and Oluwarotimi Akeredolu were counsel to the first and second respondents.
Yusuf Ali led a team of attorneys for the third and fourth respondents.
Delivering his final address, Olanipekun urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition because it lacked substantial evidence.
He said: “This petition is dead on arrival. This is the first and only petition where the petitioner did not have a witness statement.
“We have also taken objection to it by citing the Court of Appeal decision on the signature of the petitioner that there was no petition signed by the petitioner and it ought to have been struck out on this basis.”
He noted that the petitioner did not present any evidence of rigging, manipulation of result and violence as sought for by the petitioner.
Olanipekun described the petition as an abuse of court process and a waste of the tribunal’s time.
Similarly, Akeredolu said the petition’s imprecise and vague nature showed the petitioner’s nonchalance.
“The petition has no paragraphs and it is baseless. The petition had election results of local governments won by Labour Party attached to it.
“Even the petitioner is not his party’s duly elected candidate, hence he has no right to contest the outcome of the election.”
Ali said the allegations in the petition were baseless, and urged the court to dismiss it.
But Ogunwole argued that preliminary objections should not be attached to the respondents’ final addresses.
He challenged the respondents to give evidence that the petitioner did not go through primary election process before emerging Accord candidate.
The tribunal Chairman, Justice Muhammad Mayaki, adopted the written addresses of the parties and directed respondents to make available copies of authorities cited in their final addresses by tomorrow.
He said the judgment day would be communicated to the parties later.
CBN-backed cash ready for 27 states to pay workers
Cash-strapped workers who are being owed salaries are set to smile again, with the disbursement of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) – backed bailout loans for states.
Fourteen banks are disbursing N338 billion “to stimulate the economy”.
Kwara and Zamfara have received their loans and have begun the payment of salary arrears to workers.
A CBN source confirmed that the other states will get the cash this week.
A breakdown of the loans repayable at an interest rate of nine per cent over 20 years is as follows:
The CBN last week announced that it had approved that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) lend money to requesting states to pay salary arrears owed their workers.
Some of the conditions for accessing the loan include:
resolutions of the State Executive Council authorising the borrowing;
State House of Assembly consenting to the loan package; and
issuance of Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) to ensure timely repayment.
With the signing of the ISPO, “it is clear that the facility is not free as the states’ financial exposure to the banks becomes first line charges deducted from their monthly allocation”.
The CBN official explained that specific figures were attached to the facilities to be disbursed to the states is because “every state is to come up with its specific needs in order to access the facility from the commercial banks. They’re (states) working out what they need from the banks according to the conditions they reached with the banks”.
The decision to borrow money from commercial banks is sequel to the decision by the National Executive Council (NEC) at its June 29 meeting, requesting the CBN “in collaboration with other stakeholders to appraise and consider ways of liquidating the outstanding staff salaries owed by state and local governments.”
The Buhari administration announced a bailout package for states to take care of the backlog of workers’ salaries and access funds for development through the rescheduling of their debts by banks with the CBN’s guarantee.
Eleven states have had their commercial debts to DMBs restructured with a proviso to pay 14.83 per cent of the value of their bonds which their commercial debts were converted to. Eleven others are also to have theirs restructured.
Debt Management Office (DMO) Director-General Abraham Nwankwo said “the restructuring was effected using a re-opening of the FGN-Bond issued on July 18, 2015 and maturing on July 18, 2034. The pricing was based on the yield to date of the bond at a 30-day average, resulting in a transaction yield of 14.83 per cent.”The impact of the restructured states’ commercial debts to domestic bonds, he said, is that “management operations will include: monthly debt service burden will drop by a minimum of 55 per cent and a maximum of 97 per cent, among the 11; and interest rate savings for the 11 states ranging from 3 per cent to 9 per cent per annum.”
No fewer than seven people were killed yesterday when a commercial bus and an articulated vehicle ran into each other on the Ogbomoso-Oyo road.
A report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) indicated that many other occupants of the bus sustained various degrees of injuries in the accident.
A witness, who gave his name as Tayo, told NAN that the accident happened when an Ilorin-bound commercial bus overtook a sport utility vehicle and tried to manoeuvre its way back to its lane but failed.
“When I got to the accident scene some moments after it occurred, people were assisting the accident victims,” he said.
He said that the driver of the bus did not sustain any injury.
NAN gathered that six people died on the spot while another victim died on the way to the hospital.
Spokesman of the Oyo Police Command Mr. Addekunle Ajisebutu said he had not been briefed by the divisional police officers in Oyo town and Ogbomoso.
Also yesterday, a truck laden with 33,000 litres of fuel was said to have somersaulted in the Taki area of Ogbomoso and emptied its contents in a gutter.
According to another witness, who preferred anonymity, many people rushed to the scene to scoop fuel.
Security men were said to have been dispatched to the scene to prevent any casualty.
Twenty-three state governments out of the 36 states in the country including Bayelsa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, and Edo states are yet to begin the remittance of pension contributions into the Retirement Savings Account (RSAs) of their employees as at the end of the first quarter of this year, The Nation has learnt.
They are also yet to start funding of their Retirement Benefit Bond Redemption Fund Accounts (RBBRF) and yet to provide Group Life Insurance for their employees as required under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in the Pension Reform Law, 2014.
This means that employees of these states may not get their pension benefits as and when due after retirement and are not insured.
Other states that have not remitted contributions, funded RBBRF nor provide Group Life for their employees are Cross River, Ebonyi, Gombe, Kebbi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.
This was contained in the National Pension Commission (PenCom) First Quarter Report on ‘Level of Compliance with the CPS by State Governments’.
According to the report, only Lagos, Osun, Niger and Rivers are fully compliant with the law as they have remitted pension contribution, funded their RBBRF and insured their employees.
Balance in RBBRF account of state governments as at January this year shows that Lagos State had remitted N10 billion, while Ogun, Niger and Rivers had remitted N1.43billion N9.10billion and N3.10 billion respectively into their RBBRF as at the end of the quarter under review.
The report further showed that while six state governments have begun the funding of their RBBRF into RSAs account, only eight out of the 36 states had commenced remittance of contributions into the RSAs of their employees as at the period under review.
The report noted that 26 state governments have enacted laws on the CPS, while the remaining 10 were yet to pass their bills into law.
Imo State is yet to begin remittance of pension contributions too however, Imo State University is currently implementing the CPS under the auspices of the PRA 2014. The state is yet to fund the RBBRF and yet to provide Group Life Insurance for its employees.
Jigawa State has however transferred pension assets to six PFAs for management while Kano State is yet to transfer its pension assets.
The report however clarified that Jigawa and Kano states did not implement Group Life Insurance Scheme because they are currently implementing the Contributory Defined Benefits Scheme, which does not require the institution of Group Life policies for employees.
Section 4 of the PRA 2014 states that every employee to whom the act applies shall maintain an RSA in his name with any PFA of his choice.
The employer shall deduct at source the monthly contribution of the employee and not later than seven working days from the day the employee is paid his salary, remit an amount comprising the employee’s and employer’s contributions to the Pension Fund Custodian (PFC) specified by the PFA of the employee.
The PRA states further that any employer that fails to deduct or remit the contributions within the time stipulated shall in addition to making the remittance already due, be liable to a penalty to be stipulated by the Commission.
The penalty shall not be less than two per cent of the total contribution that remains unpaid for each month or part of each month the default continues and the amount of the penalty shall be recoverable as a debt owed to the employee’s retirement savings account as the case may be.
