The Osun State Government has said that it did not receive Paris Club Refund from the Federal Government, saying that such refunds were always made public by government.
The denial followed a protest on Tuesday by retirees in the state under the aegis of Forum of 2011/12 Pensioners in Osogbo, the state capital.
The protesters alleged that the state government had collected the Paris Club refund and refused to pay their entitlements.
Adeniyi Adeshina, Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, in a press statement said the state had not collected any Paris Club refund.
Adeniyi said: “It is absolute falsehood for any group of people to be claiming that some amount of intervention fund has been made available to Governor Adegboyega 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.”
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that pensioners in Osun staged the protest to demand 15 months pension arrears owed to them, as well as gratuities of retirees from 2011/12 till date.
Head of the Pensioners, Yemi Lawal, claimed that they had information that the state government had revived N6.3 billion Paris Club Refund and insisted their entitlements must be paid before the money was diverted.
