The workforce of Ogun State has firmly declined Governor Dapo Abiodun’s recent offer to end the ongoing indefinite strike centered on the non-payment of pension contributions amounting to over N82 billion owed to workers.
During an extensive seven-hour emergency meeting in Abeokuta on Friday, organized labour representatives from 25 affiliated unions undertook a thorough review of the government’s proposals surrounding the contributory pension scheme (CPS), arrears of leave allowances, wage adjustments, and staff promotions.
The unions’ statement emphasized that despite engagement with the governor in the prior day’s meeting, “the Council-in-session is displeased with the resolve of the state government on… the Contributory Pension Scheme,” thus maintaining their original stance and continuing the strike.
Governor Abiodun’s spokesperson, Lekan Adeniran, highlighted the government’s commitment to address retired workers’ benefits by instituting a phased payment plan starting July 2025 covering ten years and explained the cessation of the gratuity scheme as part of pension reforms.
Furthermore, Abiodun announced steps to ensure the immediate enrollment of all employees under the CPS, aiming for consistent management via qualified pension administrators, while also noting partial payments of inherited leave allowances and significant payouts of gratuities and pensions since 2019.
The unions have raised concerns that despite statutory deductions from employees’ salaries for 17 years, the government failed to remit these funds to pension administrators, undermining workers’ retirement benefits and calling for urgent redress or a rollback of CPS implementation.