Gombe State governor, Inuwa Yahaya has flagged off the payment of N5.4 billion gratuities to state and local government retirees.
He began the payment at the banquet hall of Gombe Government House with a symbolic presentation of cheques to beneficiaries.
He said the event marks his administration’s strong commitment towards improving the welfare of civil servants and retirees and recognising their invaluable contributions to the development of the state.
The governor noted that on assumption of office in 2019, one of the key challenges he inherited was the backlog of N21 billion gratuity arrears owed to state and local government retirees.
He added that to address the issue head-on, his government cleared over N7 billion of these backlogs in the last five years.
“Our commitment to civil service reforms extends beyond addressing pension and gratuity arrears.
We introduced the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in order to address issues associated with the service. The move has helped in revitalising the service, thus making it more efficient and effective.
“We also implemented promotions in both state and local government civil service, with both nominal and financial implications. We equally rationalised the ministries with a view to reducing cost of governance and bureaucratic inefficiencies”, he stated.
Governor Inuwa however demanded commensurate productivity and dedication from civil servants adding that already, government had introduced the biometric attendance system in ministries, departments and agencies in order to enhance productivity and accountability.
