LASG: We Remitted N11.75 bn to Retirees in 12 Months

• Begins installation of 13,000 CCTVs
Gboyega Akinsanmi
The Lagos State Government has remitted a sum of N11.75 billion to its retirees in the last 12 months as their terminal entitlements and in compliance with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2014.

The Commissioner for Establishment, Training & Pensions, Dr. Akintola Oke, gave the figure at a news conference he addressed alongside his information counterpart, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, on Monday.

At the conference, Oke said the state government’s funding of employees’ pension rights under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) since inception has been N138.413 billion.

Oke said the state government through the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) had paid the sum of N11.754 billion into the Retirement Saving Account (RSA) of 2886 retirees.

He said 1291 of the retirees were from the local government and State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB); 697 from Teachers’ Pension Office (TEPO); 887 from the mainstream service and 11 from parastatals.

He said there “have been regular deductions of 7.5 per cent from the salaries of staff and corresponding 7.5 per cent by the state government into the RSA maintained by them with their appointed PFAs.”

As at March 2017, Oke said the deductions “have cumulatively risen to N78.592 billion since the inception of the scheme in 2007. This administration has not relented in the bailout of the local government and SUBEB retirees. The governor magnanimously gave instructions for state government funds to be utilised to pay retirees from local government.”

Oke disclosed that the state government “has paid to beneficiaries of deceased employees Insurance benefit worth N170 million. The insured death is by law to be paid to named beneficiaries to alleviate the immediate needs of the family members of a deceased person.”

The commissioner explained that the estate of a deceased staff “is also entitled to receive the balance in the retirement account and accrued rights due, if the employee had joined service before the commencement of the Contributory Pension Scheme.”

On training, the commissioner said over 5000 employees had been trained in the last one year, noting that 3160 officers benefitted from 72 in-plant/tailored made workshops and training programme.

Of the figure, he added that 1650 officers benefited from 25 turnkey/bespoke training programme; 84 officers sponsored to federal training centre for career enhancing programme; 108 officers sponsored to local training workshops and 81 officers benefited from international workshops.

At a different forum, the Commissioner for Science & Technology, Mr. Olufemi Odubiyi said installation of 13, 000 CCTV) aimed at boosting security in the state had started in earnest, noting that 300 CCTVs had been installed in the first phase.

He lamented that the state government was forced to review the strategy for the installation of the CCTV cameras across the state, following scarcity and fluctuation of forex in the country.

Odubiyi said the state government had decided “to embark on the project in phases. We have deployed the infrastructure for the installation of the first 300 cameras that have been imported, which represents the first phase.”

“I will like to explain that the delay in the delivery of this project was as a result of the foreign exchange fluctuations. We believe that before 300 CCTV cameras are completely installed, the other cameras would have been delivered by the manufacturer to accelerate the project.’’