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Abdulfatai Abdulsalami, Sokoto
Sokoto state government under Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has settled the gratuity entitlements of retired civil servants of the two administrations preceding his.
Equally, the Governor has, over the last seven years, been consistent in the prompt payment of such recompense to retirees in the state.
This is as the Governor, who reiterated that his administration, intent on bequeathing to the state a purposeful and virile civil service that can deliver the dividends of democracy via “provision of incentives and capacity building initiatives,” will establish a Public Service Institute in collaboration with the Umaru Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto.
Disclosing these interventions on Wednesday in Sokoto, Tambuwal, who said that the payment of the gratuities, running into billions of naira will be on a first come, first serve basis, handed cheques to beneficiaries.
According to him, his administration “has … settled accumulated gratuities and pensions inherited from the previous administrations.”
“On assumption of office in 2015, I directed the payment of gratuity arrears of government/primary teachers from 2000-2008, followed by the settlement of another eight years backlog of gratuity from 2009-2017,” the Governor added.
Capping these payments with a third phase covering the period from March 2017- date to local government/primary teacher’s retirees, the Governor said all these was done “in spite of the economic difficulties our nation is passing through.”
“Our administration,” he explained, “has remained committed to the welfare of the state’s civil servants and senior citizens, who have spent the best part of their lives serving the people.”
He further explained that in addition to the payment of the gratuities, “the payment of salaries and pension has not stopped since the assumption of our government in 2015.”
He said this is because of the premium his administration places on citizens of the state who “deserve to live a decent life, especially our senior citizens, who have given the best of their lives to the service of our dear state.