Oyo govt spends N2bn monthly on pensioners’ gratuities

… sponsor 429 indigent students to higher institutions

Salihu AbdulWaheed Adelabu, Oyo State Commissioner for Establishments and Training, has said that the Administration of Governor Seyi Makinde is committed to promoting efficiency, maintaining industrial peace and ensuring that the welfare of both serving and retired civil/public servants in the State is given priority attention.

Adelabu, a Professor, stated this during Omitutun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing, stressing that the Government had been executing initiatives that enhance service delivery, improve institutional capacity and also deepen the professionalism of the workforce in the State.

He noted that the Government increased the payment of monthly gratuity fund from ₦206 million monthly in 2019 to ₦1 billion in May 2025, noting that the State has been paying N1 billion to retirees in both the mainstream service and secondary schools teachers and another N1 billion to retirees in primary schools and local governments in the state.

Adelabu stated that since the inception of the administration in May 2019, over ₦13 billion has been disbursed to settle accumulated arrears of gratuities for retirees in both the mainstream service and among secondary school teachers, benefitting a total of 7,250 retirees.

Read also: Oyo govt okays N60m for pensioners monthly

Speaking on the issue of human capacity training and re-training of workers across the cadres, Adelabu stated that International Standard Organization (ISO) management model would be adopted to enhance work efficiency, transparency and effectiveness of civil and public servants, adding that the same model would be adopted to develop a database on manpower and training needed across the state’s workforce, aimed at identifying skill gaps and deploying resources for targeted learning.

He added that the Governor Makinde-led administration had also assured that it would clear all pension debts before the expiration of the current tenure in 2027.

Meanwhile, Ademola Ojo, Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, said that the 33 Local Government Councils of Oyo State had sponsored a total of 429 indigent students, giving them scholarships to various higher institutions in the State and outside.

He noted that the Councils sponsored six students each to the Senator Abiola Ajimobi Technical University; five students each to study Nursing, Community Nursing and Midwifery as well as another two students per Council to a Technical college.

Apart from physical projects, the Commissioner maintained that Local Governments in the State had also been making huge contributions in the area of education and human capital development through the provision of full scholarships to students of Oyo State extraction.

He said, “We have a partnership arrangement between the local government and the Senator Abiola Ajimobi Technical University. Each local government sponsors six indigent students on full scholarship every session. The scholarship for this new session was approved by the governor a few days ago.

“We always receive nominations from all the local governments; there is no interference from the state. The local governments are expected to nominate the six students.
“We also have full scholarships for five indigent students from each local government to study at the College of Nursing and Midwifery on a yearly basis. Another is that the local governments sponsor three students each to a technical college.

“So, when you look at it, we are sponsoring 13 students from each local government per year. If you quantify that, you will know how much we are spending on these students from all the 33 local government areas every year.”