Nathaniel Gbaoron, Jalingo
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has approved quarterly release of N340,000,000.00 million naira for the payment of gratuity of 1193 State and Local Government retirees in the state.
The Director- General, State Pension Bureau, Alhaji Suleiman Nagogo stated this at a press briefing in Lafia, the state capital.
According to him, the release of the funds was to off-set gratuity of 576 and 614 Local Government and State retirees respectively, aimed at alleviating the plights of retirees in the state.
Nagogo explained that the present administration had inherited backlog of debt of gratuity and pension benefits of retirees at both the State and Local Government levels from successive administrations in the state.
“Upon my assumption of office, I discovered that the magnanimous posture of His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi Sule knows no bound and that is why his government has continue to attend to the plights of Pensioners of the state”
“The Governor swung into action by off-setting the backlog of Pension arrears witnessed in January, 2022 for Local Government Pensioners as well as approved quarterly release of Three Hundred and Forty Million Naira only (N340,000,000.00) to pay gratuity of both State and Local Government retirees”
“Apart from this, there were litigations at various courts of law filed by pensioners against the state government. These dispositions were worrisome to His Excellency, considering the fact that these Pensioners had served the state meritoriously and needed not to be treated shabbily”
“In addition, the Governor took bold steps at settling their grievances through Out-of-Court Settlement which brought about the relative peace and harmony between the aggrieved Pensioners and the State Government,” Nagago maintained.
He assured of the state government’s committment to attending to the plights of retirees as a show of appreciation for the services they have rendered to the state, even as he pledged the Bureau’s readiness to continue to support the cause of governance in the state.
The DG therefore called on the people of the state to continue to support the Governor Sule-led administration to enable him provide the dividends of democracy to the people.
He equally appealed to the media to continue to support government with the needed publicity towards the implementation of government policies and programmes to better the lives of citizenry.