The Ogun State Government has announced the clearance of pension and gratuity arrears owed to workers who retired between 2012 and 2020, reaffirming its commitment to the welfare of retirees.
This was disclosed in a statement obtained by PUNCH Online on Tuesday, after a media parley organised by the state Ministry of Budget and Planning.
The Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance, Dapo Okubadejo, attributed the backlog to liabilities inherited under the Defined Benefits Scheme, stressing that the current administration has maintained regular pension payments.
“Since the inception of this administration, we have not missed a single month of pension payment. What we inherited were arrears tied to the Defined Benefits Scheme,” he said.
Okubadejo in the statement said, “annual pension payments increased from ₦6.7 billion in 2019 to ₦20 billion in 2025, with projections indicating a possible rise to ₦40 billion by 2029.”
The statement further noted that the government “has so far paid ₦23.3 billion in gratuities covering retirees from 2012 to 2020, alongside ₦32.8 billion in outstanding gratuities owed to local government retirees inherited by the administration.”
Providing additional details, the statement read, “between 2019 and July 2, 2025, the state disbursed ₦93.26 billion in pensions under the Defined Benefits Scheme and ₦94.78 billion to local government pensioners.”
Okubadejo also assured all that the remaining obligations would be cleared as the state’s Internally Generated Revenue continues to improve.
The statement added that over 300 workers who retired in July 2025 are currently receiving six-month palliatives pending the completion of their pension documentation.
On the state’s fiscal outlook, the statement said, “the 2026 budget increased from ₦1.054 trillion in 2025 to ₦1.668 trillion, while Ogun’s economy expanded from ₦3.5 trillion in 2019 to ₦18.96 trillion in 2026.”
It also stated that “IGR grew from ₦50 billion in 2019 to ₦240 billion in 2025, with projections of ₦512 billion this year.”
