The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of deliberately failing to pay pensioners in the state their retirement benefits.

This is just as the state government announced its intention to commence the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) with the aim of surmounting the challenges of the traditional Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS).

The party in a statement by its publicity secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun described the action as sheer wickedness to the pensioners who had served the state meritoriously.

It claimed that the development had resulted to the deaths of some pensioners, including the recent passage of the state secretary of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Pa Rufus Kayode Ogedengbe, who died of minor ailment because he could not afford simple medicare.

He said, “Many of the pensioners are sick and some have died of minor ailments for lack of care, but the governor doesn’t care as long as he amasses wealth and appropriate Ekiti money.

“We call on all men and women of goodwill to prevail on Governor Fayose to consider the plights of Ekiti State pensioners and pay them their entitlements. These old men and women have served the state well and they don’t deserve to suffer in this manner,” Olatunbosun added.

Speaking in Ikogosi Ekiti at an enlightenment workshop on the implementation of the scheme, the State Head of Service, Dr. Olugbenga Faseluka noted that the inability of government to effectively cope with the huge funding requirement leading to subsequent accumulation of debts on pension and gratuities has made CPS as a preferred option for the payment of exit benefit in the public service.