Some Pensioners Are Being Used By Opposition – Comrade Sunmonu

By Murtala Agboola

Veteran labour Leader, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu, who is the Chairman of Osun Fund Allocation Committee has alluded to fact that some pensioners in the state were being used by the opposition to deliberately counter the state government on the distribution of revenue for payment of salaries, pensions and allowances.

He spoke on Wednesday, during a current affairs programme on the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), ‘The Nation Today’.

He said the disbursement process is transparent enough, as representatives of all the stakeholders involved, including pensioners have always been part of the monthly distribution of government revenue.

According to him, the establishment of his committee by the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration became inevitable when the revenue accruing to the government plummeted as a result of the fall in the price of crude oil.

The job of the committee essentially, he said is to look into how much revenue is due to the government at the end of the month from all sources, saying that sometimes, there is negative revenue from the federal level.

He noted that the committee has representatives from government side, headed by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Gboyega Oyetola and representatives of labour unions, including the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), initially represented by one Dr. Oginni.

He said that the committee on monthly basis decides the disbursement of the revenue except that of the legislature and the judiciary which are independent organs of the government.

According to him, in the course of the committee’s assignment, the workers were called uponto make sacrifices in terms of having to forgo part of their salary until the economic situation improves, saying, this gave birth to the Modulated Salary Arrangment.

The Modulated Salary, he said, is that level 1-7 have full salary because they are the most vulnerable, while officer on level 8-10 take 75 per cent, while those on level 12 and above take 50 per cent of their salary.

Comrade Sunmonu said some other states that lacked the initiative of Osun State has been coming around to take cue from the state.

The former chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said, he took up the appointment in the interest of the state and not for personal aggrandizement, saying, when the idea to lead the committee was advanced to him, many people including his family said he should not accept the offer because the government adopts use and dump strategy.

According to him, he however elected to serve in the committee because of his experience as a former labour leader and in the overall interest of the state.