Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has released N5 billion as the second phase of payments for pensions and gratuities.
The payment, according to Governor Yusuf, aimed at covering the entitlements of approximately 4,000 state and local government retirees.
Kano had disbursed N6 billion in November 2023 to offset a backlog of entitlements of over 5,000 retirees who retired or died while in Service in the state.
He said his administration inherited a pension system plagued by disorder and corruption, where illegal deductions and systemic irregularities had deprived many pensioners of their rightful benefits.
“The initial phase saw the successful allocation of N6 billion to settle the retirement gratuity and death benefits of 5,333 pensioners, including state and local government retirees and families of deceased civil servants.
“This second phase of N5 billion is dedicated and aimed at settling pension arrears (sic) for approximately 4,000 retirees.
“The administration has established stringent criteria to ensure equitable and transparent disbursement, benefiting individuals with gratuities and death gratuities ranging from N1.6 million to N6.9 million.
“To guarantee the implementation process’s integrity, a distinguished committee comprising representatives from the Pension Fund Trustees, the Sharia Court of Appeal, the Office of the Head of Civil Service, and other pivotal agencies has been formed,” Governor Yusuf said in part.
The governor emphasized that his government was driven by the dire conditions of the retirees, who had been denied their dues for years under the administration of his predecessor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
According to Governor Yusuf, he paid N11 billion for the gratuity and pension out of the N43 billion the state was owing, within one year of his administration.
First Phase
During the initial phase, the governor allocated N6 billion to settle the retirement gratuity and death benefits of 5,333 pensioners, including state and local government retirees as well as families of deceased civil servants.
The second phase of N5 billion aims to settle about 4,000 retirees. Governor Yusuf outlined that stringent criteria have been established to ensure equitable and transparent disbursement.
The amounts disbursed will range from N1.6 million to N6.9 million, depending on the individual cases of gratuities and death gratuities.
Governor Yusuf said that monthly pensions are now disbursed on or before the 25th of each month, free from arbitrary deductions.
The National Union of Pensioners recently recognized Governor Yusuf as the most Pensioners-Friendly Governor of 2024, in recognition of his commitment to addressing the plight of pensioners.
Bauchi Contrasts
While retirees in Kano get respite to their accumulated gratuities, retirees in Bauchi continue to screech as their situation receives no succour from the Bauchi State Government, leaving the older citizens abandoned.
Bauchi has been struggling with pension and gratuity payments for years as many retirees have been left without their entitlements, leading to hardship among retired civil servants.
Governor Bala had earlier vowed to settle the backlogs prior to coming to power in 2019 but only made insignificant commitments to addressing the challenge of the retirees and families of the departed.
Despite a steep increase in Federal Account Allocations, the Bauchi State government only disbursed a few hundreds of millions to the retirees.
A WikkiTimes review of National Bureau of Statistics data has shown that Bauchi state received the sum of N75.2 billion as allocation from the federation accounts committee in 2023.
Earlier, Gov. Mohammed vowed to disburse 100million monthly to clear the retirement benefit, but his administration could not make any headway in that regard.
The state has in 2023 approved N500 million for the payment of gratuities but the amount is too negligible to cater for the payment, thus leaving several retirees in limbo.
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In December 2020 the governor released about N400 million to offset part of the gratuity and death benefits. Similarly, in February 2021, the Governor stated that he directed that the sum of N500 million naira, out of the monies saved from ghost workers in the state, be set aside to pay the gratuities of some retired civil servants in the state.
However, in his inaugural speech for his second tenure on May 29, 2023, Governor Bala assured pensioners in the State that he would pay their unpaid gratuity during his second term in office.
According to the Governor, even though his administration had been up-to-date with paying pensions and gratuities, the State still owes pensioners N23 billion, adding that he settled over N4 billion without accumulating new ones.
However, an investigative report by Xchange Hama Media revealed that under Governor Bala, the situation has worsened, with unpaid gratuities accumulating to over 40 billion naira, affecting approximately 7,000 retirees. The report also highlighted the socio-economic challenges faced by thousands of retirees in the state.
In November, the state government earmarked about N80 million for the payment of gratuities, while active civil servants are to receive a year leave grant out of the backlog of the 12 years outstanding benefits.
The Office of the Auditor-General, Bauchi State, lamented the volume of unpaid gratuity to retired civil servants in the state, describing the trend as alarming.
In its Annual Report for the Year 2022 submitted to the State House of Assembly, the unpaid gratuity due to retirees as of December 31st 2022, stands at N28 billion.
Also, no approval with regard to settling the outstanding gratuities and entitlements of the retirees was made after Bala’s second oath of office.
