Obaseki presents N11.8m cheques to families of deceased workers

Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, has presented cheques totaling N11.8 million to four families whose relatives died in active service for Edo State government.

Obaseki presented the cheques to the beneficiary families at Government House, Benin, assuring them that the government would not forget their relations and their contributions to the development of the state.

The governor thanked labour unions in the

state for supporting the government in implementing the scheme and expressed readiness to extend the scheme to local government.

“I want the union to continue to support the government because we’re prepared for implementation of the contributory pension scheme across the entire workforce in Edo, particularly at the local government level.

“We want to step up our care for them to allow Edo State workers have access to better medical care. As a government, we have decided to have a contributory medical insurance scheme for all citizens of Edo State,” he said.

Edo State Head of Service ( HOS), Isaac Ehiozuwa, said the cheques presented were in compliance with the Pension Reform Act of 2014 and Edo State Law of 2010, as amended.

“The provision under Section 8( 1) and 13( 3) respectively made for the establishment of a Group Life Insurance policy for all employees, where a sum three times the last annual salary of the deceased employee will be paid to their next of kin.

Ehiozuwa said that earlier in the year, a total of N21.59m was presented to beneficiaries. He said the state government has so far paid N50.29 million to beneficiaries since the commencement of the scheme in 2017.

Cha i rman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Edo State chapter, Marshall Orhue, commended the openness and commitment of government to workers’ welfare in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Bridget Odegua Umweni, thanked the government for the scheme.