Pensioners in Kwara
State Wednesday staged a peaceful demonstration in front of the Court
of Appeal over the prolonged adjournment of their case with the state
government. The pensioners carried placards with various inscriptions
such as “Bukola pay us our pension arrears”, “Saraki spent N690 million
on election,” “pensioners are dying on a daily basis” among others.
It would be
recalled that the Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin on Friday, December
10, 2010 ordered the garnishee of the state government account to the
tune of N1.68 billion owed pensioners.
The presiding
judge, Tijani Abdullahi’s order was sequel to the application filed by
the pensioners’ counsel, Deji Gbadeyan to enforce the judgment of
Appeal Court of June 30, 2010 in favour of the pensioners in the state.
To enforce this
order, the pensioners had once again approached the Appeal Court. The
case had since been adjourned thrice based on the inability of the
Justices of the court to form a quorum for it to be heard. It was
because of this delay in hearing the case that made the pensioners to
take to the streets.
It would also be
recalled that in its reaction to the earlier judgment, the state
government described the order as an abuse of court process. The then
state Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Hammad Ali who is
now an elected member of the Federal House of Representatives, told
newsmen that the state government had already challenged the decision
of the Appeal Court at the Supreme Court.
Workers endorse Saraki
Meanwhile, the head
of the Kwara State civil service, Dabarakou Mohammed has said that
workers in the state will support the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
in the forthcoming governorship election.
Mr Mohammed made this statement at a conference organised by the
state government. In his opening remarks, Mr Mohammed said: “Mr Saraki
has transformed the state civil service in the areas of increment and
prompt payment of salary of workers, lifting of embargo for
recruitment, renovation of the state secretariat and other numerous
things to mention.” In his own speech, the Commissioner for Education,
Bolaji Abdullahi, declared the support of teachers in the state towards
the success of the PDP in the forthcoming election. In his response, Mr
Ahmed, the PDP governorship candidate said: “Civil servants in Kwara
deserve the best and must be given the best for the smooth running of
the state.” Mr Saraki, on his part expressed gratitude to the civil
servants and promised to implement the new 18,000 minimum wage. “If
something is good, why would you have to change it? Kwara is working so
we do not need change.” He concluded
