Ikeja- Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said Government would pay the arrears owed pensioners in 2015.
The governor made the promise while addressing journalists at the Government House in Ikeja on Wednesday .
He said enough provisions had been made in the state`s budget for 2015 to clear the arrears, pointing out that much of the indebtedness accrued from the old scheme.
Fashola said the proposed step, apart from improving the lots of pensioners, would also relieve the in-coming administration of unnecessary pension issues.
“Next year, we will try to clear as much of the old arrears of the Defined Benefits Scheme. The state`s Contributory Pension Scheme is doing very well.
“In fact, we have the largest implementation record in the whole of the country today.
“Just two days ago, we released about N1.5billion again, to people who have decently retired.
“So, where we are having issues is the old pensioners who have served and we have made a lot of provisions in 2015 budget to clear as much as we can.
“Again, this is to ensure that pension issues do not affect the administration of the next government when they take over.
“We want to solve as many as we can before we leave or reduce to the barest minimum and leave a plan to finally eliminate it’’, he said.
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On the decision of government to operate a zero deficit budget next year, Fashola said the idea was to enable the next administration to start on a new slate.
He said the N489billion budget did not preclude the in-coming government from borrowing in subsequent years. “It is only designed to reduce the state`s deficit.’’
Fashola said the crisis that had trailed the falling oil price was self-inflicted as the country had failed to maximally utilise increased oil revenue during the boom era.
The governor said although the development had negatively impacted on the state`s budget performance, it would not hurt its economy significantly.
“Whatever happens to oil, the state will survive. This is because its economy is not built on oil but on its rich human resource and other things that have ensured development’’, he said.
Fashola disclosed that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue dropped from N20billion to N18bilion but gave no reason for the drop.
The governor said his administration executed a good number of projects that had improved the life of residents. (NAN)
