Clement Adeyi, Osogbo, with agency report

Osun State Government has said it did not receive Paris Club Refund from the Federal Government, saying such refunds were always made public by government.

The denial followed a protest by retirees in the state, under the aegis of Forum of 2011/12 Pensioners in Osogbo, the state capital, yesterday.

The protesters alleged that the state government had collected the Paris Club refund and refused to pay their entitlements.

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But, Oyetola’s Chief Press Secretary, Adeniyi Adesina, in a statement, said the state has not collected any Paris Club debt refund.

“It is absolute falsehood for any group of people to be claiming that some amount of intervention fund has been made available to Governor Oyetola-led administration. “Paris Club refund or any refund in any form, is never secretly disbursed. Such payments are publicly announced and Oyetola, at inception of his administration, promised to run a transparent government. He is not going to renege on this,” Adeniyi said.

The pensioners were armed with placards with different inscriptions such as “EFCC should probe Aregbesola”, “Retirees are dying”, “Pension, gratuity is our right”, “Pay us our entitlements”, ‘Denying us our entitlements is an act of wickedness and callousness.”

Chairman of the pensioners, Yemi Lawal declared that Osun’s retirees were the most traumatised in the country.