Zamfara State Government said it has verified a total of 3,079 retirees in its effort to pay the backlog of gratuities owed by previous administrations in the state.
Retired state and local government workers in the state have not received their gratuities since 2011 and these have accumulated over the years.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant, Media to the Governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that a total of 1,746 state and local government pensioners have so far received two tranches of payment amounting to N2,312,841,065.08.
The statement added that the second tranche of verified pensioners’ gratuity payments began last Friday, bringing relief to retirees who had been waiting for their entitlements for years.
“Tremendous progress has been made in verifying state and local government pensioners. Payment for the second tranche of verified pensioners’ gratuity commenced on Friday, March 1, 2024.
“A total of 413 verified pensioners from the state have been paid a sum of about NGN 682,228,647.38 (six hundred and eighty-two million, two hundred and twenty thousand, six hundred- and forty-seven-naira thirty-eight kobo only).
“Also, the payment of the second tranche of verified pensioners from Local Governments has commenced. A total of 403 verified pensioners from the Local Governments, amounting to N449,667,142.08 (four hundred and forty-nine million, six hundred and sixty-seven thousand, one hundred and forty-two naira and eight kobo only), have been paid.
“Out of the 3,079 pensioners who have been verified, 1,746 have received their gratuity payments in two tranches from both the state and local governments.
“The total amount paid so far is N2,312,841,065.08 (two billion, three hundred and twelve million, eight hundred and forty-one thousand, sixty-five naira and eight kobo only),” Idris said.
The statement added that the verification and authentication of the retirees is still ongoing, with payments being made to those who have been cleared.
