Ogun Governor Budgets Another ₦6.6 Billion for Vehicles Amid Ongoing Workers’ Pension Crisis
The Ogun State Government has allocated ₦6.6 billion in its 2025 budget for the purchase of Toyota Fortuners and Land Cruisers despite already spending ₦5.8 billion on similar vehicles in the past two years.
This revelation, based on a review of the 2025 approved budget, is drawing sharp criticism, especially as public workers in the state continue a strike over unpaid pension contributions.
According to budget records, ₦2.1 billion was spent on the same vehicles in 2023, with an additional ₦3.7 billion used between January and September 2024.
The continued expenditure on official vehicles comes as many workers demand action on Ogun State’s failure to remit pension funds to their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) under the Contributory Pension Scheme.
Civil and public servants under the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Organised Labour have been on indefinite strike since July 15, 2025, after a resolution passed at the General Parliament of State Workers held in Abeokuta.
They cited consistent breaches of the Ogun State Pension Reform Law of 2008 (amended in 2013), noting that only 34 out of the expected 204 months of state contributions have been remitted to PFAs in the past 17 years.
While deductions from workers’ salaries have reportedly continued, the state’s share remains largely unremitted. Despite multiple correspondences and the setting up of a pension reform committee in 2022, workers claim no meaningful action has been taken to resolve the crisis.
In a related incident, athletes who represented Ogun State at the National Sports Festival also protested non-payment of allowances, locking down the Games Village at Babcock University in Ilishan-Remo. Reports indicate that the protest disrupted access to competition venues and left many stranded.
The contrasting priorities massive vehicle budgets for government offices and delayed entitlements for workers and athletes have sparked widespread anger, with critics accusing the administration of financial mismanagement and misplaced priorities.
