Lagos Sports Pensioners Cry To Fashola Over Unpaid N22m Gratuity

This is not the best time for the retirees of the Lagos State Sports Council (LSSC) as they have been waiting endlessly to get their gratuities and pensions totaling N22,449,437.79K (Twenty-two Million, Four Hundred and Forty-nine Thousand, Four Hundred and Thirty- Seven Naira, Seventy-Nine Kobo) since 2009.

The retirees are now making a clarion call to Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), to save them from untold hardship.

The outstanding payment of the gratuities and pensions, which includes N5,851,500.44k (Five Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira, Forty-Four kobo) is being demanded on behalf of relatives of six deceased retirees including former tennis star, Olubunmi Bamigbade, Samson Ogundipe, Yekini Balogun, Fatai Adisa and Mrs. Theresa Olorunoje.

It was gathered that the Lagos State Pensions Board had last November, refereed the case of the retirees to the Office of the Commissioner for Youth, Sports and Social Development, Office of Sports, which in turn minuted to the Lagos State Sport Council for the payment of the money due to the officers who had served the state and the country as sportmen and women in various capacities.

Some of the affected retirees include tennis star, Kehinde Ajayi, Volleyballer, Suraju Onatuga and former Director of Sports, H.O.D Ololade with Handball Coach, Alamu Josiah and Boxing Coach Babatunde Mohammed.

LSSC Director of Sport, Adewunmi Ogunsanya told the retirees that the file from the Sports Ministry could not be traced last Thursday when they staged a peaceful protest to demand the payment which had lingered and whilst most of them are reportedly in abject poverty.

In a memo to the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget dated 23 March, 2009, former Sports Council Chairman, Barrister Yomi Dada had pleaded for the retirees to be paid their entitlements which has at that period had been outstanding for five (5) years.

Dada in the memo had requested for the sum of over N22million (Twenty-Two Million Naira) to be deducted from the Council's subvention to offset the outstanding arrears to the retirees and next-of-kin of the deceased.

Within recent months, the retirees had appealed to the State Government to ensure that the LSSC effect the payment in line with the welfarist policy of Governor Raji Fashola.

" We are using this medium to appeal to the Governor to assist us in recouping our rights having served the state and the nation diligently", one of the retirees said.

The retirees also blamed the board of LSSC over its lukewarm attitude towards their affairs, as it failed to prevail on the Director of Sports to ensure the retrieval of the relevant files and seek government's approval and release of funds to offset this payment.