Sule set to pay N1bn gratuity to over 1, 000 retirees owed since 1999 in Nasarawa

By David Okpashi

The Nasarawa State government has announced the payment of N1bn owed Local and state government retirees since 1999 as parts of measures to cushion the economic hardship faced by Nigerians in the state.

Consequently, government has approved the sum of N1billion for payment as gratuity to over 1,000 retired civil servants owed since 1999 in the state.

Governor Abdullahi Sule announced this during an unscheduled assessment visit to the State Bureau for Pension Administrations. venue of the ongoing screening exercise of over 700 Local Government and 300 retired pensioners of the state government

According to Governor Sule, the one billion naira would be used to clear the backlog of gratuity owed both the State and Local Government retirees from 1999 to 2010.

This is even as the Governor disclosed that his administration inherited a backlog of gratuity from the creation of the State in 1996 till date.

He told Journalists that he was at the screening venue to monitor the exercise, which he said, was meant to reduce the hardship of the retirees by offsetting their full entitlements to enable them start something.

“The Present administration under my watch has been working relentlessly to ensure that both the Local and State pensioners are paid one hundred percent of the pension, with the pensioners already receiving their February pension”, Sule stated

Speaking to Journalists, Director General of the state pension Bureau, Alhaji Suleiman Nagogo clear the air on why retirees we’re being paid only N100, 000 monthly in the past as gratuity.

“Please recall that payment of this gratuity is being done every quarter which means that we gather the amount we have to receive in three months and announce to the people to come and collect their gratuity.

“We don’t sit as a Bureau for Pension Administration and say we are paying one hundred thousand naira. There is a committee called the Gratuity Disbursement Committee which is headed by the Deputy Governor of the State. They sit and look at the entire amount that has accrued for payment of gratuity and looked at the recommendations that came from the BPA and how many people they can take at that quarter.

The DG who however, dismissed, claims that files belonging to some retirees were missing, added that the same process of off setting gratuity of the retirees were still been followed in disbursing the funds

“Whoever said his file is missing, I think he is only claiming so. I have never received complaints of anybody’s file not being traced in this office,” the DG boasted.