Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has approved the disbursement of N1 billion to clear outstanding gratuities of local and state government retirees.
Governor Sule said the amount was meant for the gratuities of those who exited the civil service between1999 and 2010.
The governor made the announcement when he assessed the ongoing screening of state retirees at the Bureau for Pension Administration.
He explained his administration inherited a backlog of gratuities from 1996 till date.
He said with improved revenue accruing to the state, his administration saw the need to clear gratuities from 1999 to 2010.
“My dream again is when the amount increases significantly, whether anybody knows somebody in government or not, again, we will just follow the first-come-first-served to complete the payment for 2011 by the end of this year. At the beginning of next year, we will pay purely from 2012,” he stated.
He added that the gesture was meant to bring succor to retirees who are presently experiencing economic hardship.
“People are facing a lot of challenges today due to the economic hardship. That is the reason why we believe if we pay them their money, some of them are getting one million, some two million and even three million, the money will go a long way in reducing the hardship.
“This is in addition to whatever interventions we are having, whether it is food items or whatever, let us pay them what is due to them, and that is their own gratuity,” he added.
The governor expressed optimism that with 500 local government retirees, out of the over 700 and 100 state retirees, out of the over 300 already screened, the beneficiaries would begin to receive their payments by Tuesday next week.
The director general, Nasarawa State Pension Bureau, Alhaji Suleiman Musa Nagogo, said the screening which started on Monday will end on February 19.
