By BASHIR  ADEFAKA
Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has approved the payment of arrears of the 142 percent pension increase for pensioners in the state.

He also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an automobile firm, DAG Motorcycle Industries Nigeria Limited, for the procurement and distribution of 1,000 units of tricycles for the people of the state.

At the signing of the agreement between the government and the state branch of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), at the governor’s office in Ibadan, on Thursday, Governor Ajimobi, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Akin Olajide, said that the gesture was a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to the welfare of the people of the state.

He said that the payment of the arrears, spanning five years and two months, would go a long way in mitigating the suffering of the pensioners who, he said, had not been fairly treated by the immediate past administration. He seized the occasion to assure serving civil servants that their welfare would continue to be given priority attention by his administration.

Expressing his appreciation on behalf of NUP, its state branch chairman, Alhaji Lateef Adegoke, thanked the governor for bringing to fruition approval of the payment of the pension arrears, which he said his members had struggled for in the last six years.