Ogun to sanction councils over pensions funds

FIVE local council chairmen in Ogun State who have deducted funds meant for their workers pension but failed to remit them into the Contributory Pension Fund are to be sanctioned by the state government.

The affected councils are Ifo, Odeda, Ijebu-North, Ado-Odo/Ota and Imeko Afon. The warning came from the Permanent Secretary of Local Government Bureau Pensions (BLGP), Mr. Hezekiah Rasidi Tayo, at the weekend.

In a statement signed by the Bureaus Press Officer, Mrs. Gbonjubola Alao, Tayo said the chairmen were only trustees to the deducted money from their workers who are the sole owners of the money.

Tayo spoke at a stakeholders meeting on the new Contributory Pension Scheme held at Staff Development Centre, Abeokuta, the state capital.

The meeting was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Bureau of State Pensions, Alhaji Adekunle Adegbite, former Director of the BLGP, Yomi Bada, and officials of the 20 local councils in the state.

Tayo urged the council senior officials to acquaint their chairmen on the expediency of remitting workers contributions to the bureaus official bank, IBTC Stanbic Bank.

He urged the councils in the state to be honest and consistent in their disposition to duties.

The BLGP chief said the agency would soon begin preparation of the final cheques to the pension fund administrators, stressing that the cooperation of the councils would make the easy.