For many retirees in Ondo State, the years after leaving service were marked not by rest but by uncertainty. Some waited for gratuity payments that stretched across multiple administrations. A few did not live long enough to receive what was owed to them.
That narrative is now being rewritten.
In a series of flag-off ceremonies at the Cocoa Conference Centre in Akure, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s administration has moved to clear a backlog of gratuity obligations dating back to 2015, describing the exercise as “a debt of honour” to men and women who devoted their productive years to the Sunshine State.
When the current administration took office, it inherited billions of naira in outstanding gratuities covering the period from 2015 to date. Rather than defer the issue, the government chose to confront it directly.
In October 2025, the first phase began with the release of ₦2.2 billion to settle arrears for 2016 and 2017 retirees. In January 2026, gratuities for 2015, 2016 and 2017 Batch B were paid, totaling ₦1.013 billion.
The momentum continued in 2026, and
₦2.4 billion was flagged off for 733 retirees from the 2018 and 2019 batches.
₦3.82 billion was later released for 985 retirees, covering the 2020 batch and outstanding beneficiaries from 2015 to 2019.
Across these interventions, retirees from the mainstream civil service, secondary school teaching and non-teaching staff, and state parastatals have been paid in full rather than through partial disbursements.
At each event, governor Aiyedatiwa consistently said gratuity payments are not a political tool but a moral obligation.
He acknowledged that some pensioners endured years of hardship, with stories of prolonged waiting, anguish, and, in some cases, loss of lives before their dues were settled.
The administration’s position is that retirement should be a period of rest and security, not anxiety over unpaid entitlements.
For the Aiyedatiwa administration, the gratuity exercise is tied to a broader governance philosophy captured in the “OUR EASE” agenda, which places citizen welfare at the centre of policy.
Governor Aiyedatiwa who linked the state’s improved capacity to meet these obligations to wider economic reforms at the federal level commended President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms saying they had created greater fiscal space for states to meet critical responsibilities, including gratuity payments.
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Ondo State Council, has also acknowledged the progress.
