The Ogun State Government has settled all outstanding pension and gratuity payments owed to public servants who retired between 2012 and 2020, marking a significant milestone in the administration’s effort to honour its obligations to former workers.
Dapo Okubadejo, the state’s Economic Adviser and Commissioner for Finance, made the announcement on Tuesday at a media engagement hosted by the Ogun State Ministry of Budget and Planning.
Okubadejo clarified that the cleared arrears were inherited liabilities tied to the Defined Benefits Scheme — a retirement arrangement under which former workers receive fixed monthly payments — and stressed that the current administration under Governor Dapo Abiodun has maintained an unbroken record of monthly pension disbursements since taking office.
“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.
The commissioner revealed that annual pension spending has grown sharply, rising from ₦6.7 billion in 2019 to ₦20 billion in 2025, with projections suggesting the figure could double to ₦40 billion by 2029. The state has paid ₦23.3 billion in gratuities to retirees from 2012 to 2020, and an additional ₦32.8 billion to cover inherited local government gratuity obligations.
Between 2019 and July 2025, Ogun disbursed ₦93.26 billion in Defined Benefits pension payments and ₦94.78 billion to local government pensioners. Okubadejo said the remainder of the backlog would be progressively cleared as the state’s Internally Generated Revenue continues to improve. He noted that more than 300 workers who retired in July 2025 are currently receiving six-month transitional payments while their pension documentation is being processed.
The commissioner also spotlighted the newly approved Additional Pension Benefits scheme, describing it as the first initiative of its kind in Nigeria, and said the government would seek legislative amendments to formally embed the programme into the state’s pension framework.
On the broader economic picture, Okubadejo reported that Ogun’s 2026 budget has risen to ₦1.668 trillion from ₦1.054 trillion in 2025, while the state’s economy has expanded dramatically — from ₦3.5 trillion in 2019 to ₦18.96 trillion in 2026. Internally generated revenue grew from ₦50 billion to ₦240 billion over the same period, with a projection of ₦512 billion for the current year.
The Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Olaolu Olabimtan, echoed these figures, pointing to an 85 per cent budget execution rate in 2024 as evidence of sustained fiscal discipline and reform. Other officials at the briefing highlighted progress across infrastructure, healthcare, rail expansion, education, and housing.
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