The Oyo State Government on Friday, January 16, raised alarm over allegations that some pensioners are being extorted by individuals posing as government officials during the processing of gratuity payments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, disclosed the development in a press statement in Ibadan, warning that vulnerable retirees were being targeted by criminal networks operating within the system.

 

 

 

Oyelade said the present administration was exercising “due diligence” in the payment of gratuities, insisting that the current system is more transparent and efficient than that of previous governments.

 

 

 

According to him, “A cartel has been operating within the civil service and government is narrowing down on the criminals.” He explained that retired civil and public servants were being asked to pay between five and ten per cent of their gratuities to these groups in order to “fast-track” payment.

 

 

He described the practice as longstanding and said, “The issue has persisted over the years, even during the tenure of former governor, His Excellency Lam Adesina, and continues to affect unsuspecting pensioners till today.” Oyelade added that “those behind the extortions and their accomplices know themselves,” and lamented that despite repeated warnings, some retirees continue to fall victim. The alleged schemes, he said, affect both state pensioners and those at the local government level.