Nasarawa State to Pay N1bn to Over 1,000 Retirees Owed Gratuity Since 1999

The Nasarawa State government has announced that it will be paying N1bn to over 1,000 retirees who are owed gratuity since 1999.

The announcement was made by Governor Abdullahi Sule during an unscheduled assessment visit to the State Bureau for Pension Administration.

The funds will be used to clear the backlog of gratuity owed to both State and Local Government retirees from 1999 to 2010.

The Governor stated that the move is part of measures to cushion the economic hardship being experienced by Nigerians.

He also disclosed that his administration inherited a backlog of gratuity from the creation of the State in 1996 till date.

Governor Sule further explained that he was at the screening venue to monitor the exercise, which he said, was meant to reduce the hardship of the retirees by offsetting their full entitlements to enable them to start something.

According to the Director General of the state pension Bureau, Alhaji Suleiman Nagogo, the payment process of the gratuity is being done every quarter.

The Gratuity Disbursement Committee, which is headed by the Deputy Governor of the State, looks at the amount that has accrued for payment of gratuity and decides how many people they can take at that quarter.

The DG also dismissed claims that files belonging to some retirees were missing, stating that the same process of offsetting the gratuity of the retirees is still being followed in disbursing the funds.

This move by the Nasarawa State government is a welcome development for the retirees who have been waiting for their gratuity for over two decades.

It is a step in the right direction to ensure that pensioners receive their entitlements and can live a comfortable life after years of service to the state.