GOVERNOR Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State said his administration has spent N7 billion within the past five years on backlog of gratuity to retirees in the state.
Yahaya stated this in Gombe on Thursday while presenting cheques to state and local government retirees.
He stated that on his assumption of office in 2019, his administration inherited a backlog of gratuity owed to state and local government retirees amounting to N21 billion.
He stated that his administration prioritised payment of the backlog to ensure justice and fairness for workers who had sacrificed their time to serve the state.
On the current payment, Yahaya said: “In this round of payment, we are paying N5.44 billion to both state and local government retirees. The state government will settle the backlog of 2018 retirees.
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“In the case of our local government areas, the payment is implemented based on individual resources, with financially capable local governments able to settle more of such obligations than their less capable counterparts.
“In this regard, Kwami, Funakaye and Nafada Local Government Areas are able to clear all their backlogs; Akko, Billiri, Dukku and Shongom are to settle the ones for 2014 and 2015 retirees.
“Balanga and Yamaltu Deba are to clear the backlogs of 2013 and 2014 retirees; while Kaltungo and Gombe are to clear the one for 2013 retirees only.
“This approach will go a long way in entrenching prudence and accountability, because it is only fair for each local government to bear its own burden,” he said.
The governor said payment of gratuities and pensions was part of the reforms adopted by his administration to reposition the civil service in the state.
He said another measure adopted to reform the civil service was the introduction of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms.
He said the reforms were to revitalise the service and make it more efficient. “We also implemented promotions in the civil service, with both nominal and financial implications,” he said. (NAN)
